Americanah
Americanah is a 2013 novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for which Adichie won the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Americanah tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States to attend university. The novel traces Ifemelu's life in both countries, threaded by her love story with high school classmate Obinze.
Where Americanah keeps showing up
Two of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Also by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Books in conversation with Americanah
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about Americanah
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Years after leaving Lagos for university in the United States, Ifemelu is preparing to move home, while her teenage love Obinze, undocumented in London, builds a different kind of life entirely.
Yes. Americanah won the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and was a New York Times Best Book of the Year. It cemented Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's reputation as a leading voice in contemporary fiction.
A film and television adaptation has been in development with Lupita Nyong'o attached to star and produce. The project was announced in 2014 and has gone through multiple iterations, including a planned HBO Max miniseries that was later cancelled. As of 2025, the project remains in flux.
Americanah was written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, published in 2013 by v|b|z.
Americanah is 590 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Americanah takes most readers 9 to 13 hours to finish.
Americanah is a standalone novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, not part of a series.
Americanah is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
