Summary
Chapter 1
Ifemelu is a brilliant young Nigerian woman at a crossroads in her life. She has just broken off a long-term relationship and walked away from her provocative and successful lifestyle blog called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes), known for its commentary on American black culture and how it differs from her experiences as an African living in Nigeria. Ifemelu sends an email to her ex, Obinze, to inform him sheâs coming home after thirteen years in America.
Chapter 2
Reading Ifemeluâs email, Obinze, a successful developer in Nigeria, feels off-balance and filled with raw emotion. Trapped in a loveless marriage and the father of a young daughter, Obinze finds little joy in life. He realizes he is still in love with Ifemelu.
Chapter 3
Taking the train from idyllic, suburban Princeton to gritty Trenton, New Jersey, to have her hair braided is a symbolic gesture for Ifemelu, allowing her to acknowledge and embrace her African heritage.
Seeing her kinky hair braided in the mirror reminds Ifemelu of her motherâs silky tresses and how her mother took scissors to them as proof of her devotion to God. Ifemeluâs father, who lost his job in Nigeria for refusing to defer to his female bossâ demand for respect, is immersed in unemployment blues, making way for her motherâs blind faith to consume the family.
Around this time, Ifemeluâs Aunty Uju becomes mistress to a powerful government official, The General, in exchange for a doctorâs position at a military hospital.
Chapter 4
Obinze, intelligent and introspective, is the new boy in school. Expected to be Ginikaâs boyfriend because she is sweet and demure, heâs instead attracted to the self-assured and bold Ifemelu. Ifemelu is strongly drawn to Obinze, too, which makes her happy and insecure at the same time. The two fall in love.
Chapter 5
Obinze is obsessed with everything American, especially books. One afternoon, Obinze introduces Ifemelu to his elegant and vivacious mother, a literature scholar who takes Ifemelu under her wing. A progressive woman, she warns Ifemelu about how an unwanted pregnancy is another way that women are kept down in society. Although Ifemelu loves being with Obinze and his mother, she canât seem to shake the feeling of impending doom.
Chapter 6
Aunty Ujuâs deal with The General, who has a wife and family, is that she becomes a âkeptâ woman in exchange for her position as a doctor at the military hospital. This means that he controls all her finances and she has no money of her own. In her youth, Ifemelu looked up to Uju for encouraging her to be outspoken, and knows Uju would not have approved of a woman giving up her independence for a man. A year after Uju gives birth to The Generalâs illegitimate son, Dike, The General is killed in a plane crash. With no place to go, Uju and Dike move to America.
Chapter 7
Obinzeâs mother falls ill, so he decides to go to the university in Nsukka to be near her; Ifemelu chooses to enroll at the school in Obinzeâs village, too. When a strike interrupts their studies, Ifemelu returns to Lagos to wait it out.
Upon Ifemeluâs return to school, Obinze and Ifemelu make love for the first time. Shortly thereafter, Ifemelu thinks sheâs pregnant, but it turns out to be appendicitis. Knowing they dodged a bullet, the couple uses protection from then on.
Chapter 8
School strikes are becoming more frequent, so Aunty Uju encourages Ifemelu to apply to study abroad, and Obinze agrees with the idea. Ifemelu wins a scholarship to a college in Philadelphia; Obinze promises to follow her after his graduation from the university in Nsukka. Obinzeâs faith in her abilities steels Ifemelu for the adventure in America.
Chapter 9
The heat in the Trenton hair salon is stifling, reminding Ifemelu of the heat wave during her first summer in New York. The high temperatures, Aunty Ujuâs scruffy appearance, and the seedy apartment in Brooklyn were not what Ifemelu had expected. Ifemelu notices that life in America has made her aunt more subdued, but Ifemelu feels an overwhelming sense of newness and anticipation, an eagerness to discover America. Little Dike is delightful, and Ifemelu enjoys looking after him.
Chapter 10
Ifemelu likes a lot of things about America and is learning about food and traditions. She enjoys McDonaldâs hamburgers, bologna, and pepperoni, but is disappointed by the blandness of the fruit. Her favorite thing to watch on TV, by far, is commercials. Her days are full of wonder and excitement as she learns about a new culture.
Chapter 11
Ifemelu doesnât approve of Aunty Ujuâs new boyfriend, Bartholomew. Heâs rude, disrespectful, and arrogant, and he displays disturbing misogynistic tendencies. On top of that, he doesnât treat Dike well.
Aunty Uju passes her medical license exam just before Ifemelu leaves for Philadelphia. Although nostalgic about Brooklyn and missing Dike terribly, Ifemelu is anxious to start her new life.
Chapter 12
Ifemeluâs old friend, Ginika, meets her at the bus terminal dressed scandalously. What ensues is a crash course in âhow to be American.â Ifemelu finds a room to rent with three other co...