I recently read the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The book is about a young Nigerian woman who immigrates to the United States to attend Princeton University.

I came across Americanah because I watched a TED talk that was given by author, Chimamanda Adichie.

Adiche has been a rising novelist over the past decade.Her TED talk about feminism was quoted in the beyonce song flawless.  She has written several highly acclaimed novels such as “Half of a Yellow Sun”, “Purple Hibiscus” “ The Thing Around their Necks.” She has won several awards from the MacArthur fellowship, Baileys womens prize for fiction and and the  PEN Open Book Award.

Americanah was beautifully written. It seemed to be a fictional story but it was quite obvious that it was drawn on her own personal experiences of being a foreign exchange student. Despite the hardships of being alone in a foreign land, Americanah was filled with humorous moments. I often felt pity for the protagonist throughout the novel but the story dwelled on many of her every day experiences as a college student and the culture clash was presented in a hysterical way.

Between awkward roommate experiences and language barrier misunderstandings with her professors; Americanah had me laughing out loud.

I personally loved this book. Both of my parents immigrated to the United States in their early twenties, so I realize that it is a difficult experience. But Americanah puts a funny and jovial spin to it.