My Mother, the Crazy African

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Genres: Short Stories

Unknown Binding

About the author

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE grew up in Nigeria. Her work has been translated into more than fifty-five languages. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize; Half of a Yellow Sun, which was the recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Best of the Best” award; Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck and the essays We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Her most recent work is an essay about losing her father, Notes on Grief, and Mama’s Sleeping Scarf, a children’s book written as Nwa Grace-James. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Reviews

[Oleksandr Fediienko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Сім’я Ралінду переїхала з Нігерії до Філадельфії. Ралінду ходить у школу і для неї дуже важливо почуватися там своєю. У неї залишається акцент, але для друзів вона – Лін, вона їсть американські страви і поводиться по-їхньому. Мати не розуміє, чому Ралінду нехтує традиціями своїх предків з народу іґбо. За іронією, ім’я Ралінду значить «обери життя», і вона обирає американське, нове.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am loving these stories by Adichie that you can download from the Internet or find in the New Yorker. This one is about a young teenage girl and her mother, three years into their move to the States. Whilst the teenage girl tries really hard to integrate, her mum won't let go of her Nigerian roots. This is a cause for much emotional embarrassment with the daughter's friends and neighbours and with the husband's colleagues. It is the eternal identity dichotomy, lived at different levels by different generations. Adichie is adept at showing this integration vs adaptation in all aspects of life, food, relationships, language, dress code, social conventions. 3.5 stars.

[Nanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

🌶️😢