“…her relationship with him was like being content in a house but always sitting by the window and looking out.”

AdicheOne of the many remarkable attributes of Chimanda Ngozi Adichie‘s dazzling novel Americanah is her ability to capture a complex condition, situation, or decision in just a few precise words. She describes the central character’s loneliness this way “… she felt sheathed in a translucent haze of difference.” (80) The clash between expectations and reality when two characters are reunited at the airport is drawn like this: “Their silence was full of stones.” (128). The story builds to the climatic decision made in the final sentence, delivered with a punch, taking your breath away, stated simply as: “Come in.” (588).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah (New York: Anchor Books, Random House LLC, 2013), p. 9.

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