Promosing start in Section 1 of Chimamanda Ngozi Achiedie's Americanah

Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie's best-known novel, Americanah (2013) gets off to a fine start, and it's obvious from Section 1 - one chapter that takes place in and around Princeton and the second in and around Lagos - that CNA is a sharp-eyed social critic and a write with wit and style. Her story is aboutcenters on a 20-something Nigerian woman who has lived in the states for 13 years and has dual citizenship - have too look up her name: Ifemelu - a successful academic (has just completed a fellowship at Princeton, field not named) involved in a relationship w/ Blaine, an African-American teaching at Yale. Novel opens w/ Ifemulu traveling to Trenton to get her hair braided in an African salon - none exists in the upscale Princeton - and through this device CNA gives us some real insight to how foreign-born citizens view Americans and out quirks - e.g., saying conversationally "I know" when we really mean "I agree" - as well as quirks of the African community in the U.S.: Ifemelu engages in a complex discussion about various African "tribes" and rivalries w/ her stylist. Second chapter shifts to Lagos where we meet Ifemelu's first serious boyfriend - Obinze - now a successful entrepreneur and - seemingly - happily married. Again, CNA offers sharp insights into Nigerian culture, politics, and economics - the hustling, the currying of favor with the wealthy, the schemes, how much theft is tolerated and how much is unforgiven. The plot entails Ifemelu's surprise deicision to leave her American boyfriend and the culture in which she has thrived to return to Nigeria; her reasons for doing so are not yet clear, even to her - but it is clear, whether she knows it or not, that she in part wants to connect with Obinze, or at least with that part of her life and her past. It's a long novel (nearly 700 pp!) and not sure how well CNA will maintain the narrative voice (3rd person, thank God - a sophisticated way to tells a complex story such as this) and the forward-moving plot - but it's promising so far and it's clear how this novel established CNA as a leading public figure and insightful commentator on all matters African and American.