Ifemelu was born in Nigeria but left for the United States to study. She discovers racism for the first time, and what it means to be “Black”. In Nigeria, she leaves Obinze, her teenage love, who is supposed to come and meet her when possible. This will never happen, and Ifemelu will mould herself in this American life. A few years later, after several jobs and boyfriends, she returns to Nigeria. She will reconnect with Obinze, the love of her life. A moving novel about Americanization and racism, beautifully written.
“One morning, Aunty Uju woke up and went to the bathroom. Bartholomew had just brushed his teeth. Aunty Uju reached for her toothbrush and saw, inside the sink, a thick blob of toothpaste. Thick enough for a full mouth-cleaning. It sat there, far from the drain, soft and melting. It disgusted her. How exactly did a person clean their teeth and end up leaving so much toothpaste in the sink? Had he not seen it? Had he, when it fell into the sink, pressed more onto his toothbrush? Or did he just go ahead and brush anyway with an almost-dry brush? Which meant his teeth were not clean. But his teeth did not concern Aunty Uju. The blob of toothpaste left in the sink did. On so many other mornings, she had cleaned off toothpaste, rinsed out the sink. But not this morning. This morning, she was done. She shouted his name, again and again. He asked her what was wrong. She told him the toothpaste in the sink was wrong. He looked at her and mumbled that he had been in a hurry, he was already late for work, and she told him that she, too, had work to go to, and she earned more than he did, in case he had forgotten. She was paying for his car, after all. He stormed off and went downstairs.”