The Thing Around Your Neck
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Knopf June 2009
240 pages
From the library
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's collection of short stories feature characters who are trying to find out where they belong in two very different cultures. They are Nigerian women who have moved to America or American women visiting Nigeria. Some of them are just taking a trip, some are becoming citizens of a new place, and some are hoping to leave their past behind forever. Each protagonist draws you deep inside their minds and hearts as they share their deepest secrets and desires and make the most difficult decisions of their lives.
I have wanted to read Adichie's work for a long time now. I knew that this book was something special when I closed it and remembered each and every story. Usually when I read a collection of stories, some of them will stand out and others will be quickly forgotten. In this case. I could still recall each of the protagonists and each time my heart jumped into my throat when Adichie surprised me or beautifully captured what it meant to be in love, to want something better, or to feel utterly alone.
In "Cell One," the first story in the book, a young man goes to prison after getting caught up in a local gang arrest. "Imitatation" finds Nkem changing her appearance after she finds out that her husband has a mistress back in Nigeria. Chika hides out during riots with a Muslim woman in "A Private Experience." In "Jumping Monkey Hill," Ujunwa find that her stories will only be accepted at a writing retreat if they uphold a specific version of being African. And in the title story, Akunna finds life in America completely different than she imagined and wonders if a new romance can lessen the feeling of never belonging.
The Thing Around Your Neck is the perfect way to dip your toes into Adichie's work. I'm looking forward to reading her novels and spending more time with her precise writing, fascinating characters, and insights about belonging and finding a balance between two very different cultures.
In "Cell One," the first story in the book, a young man goes to prison after getting caught up in a local gang arrest. "Imitatation" finds Nkem changing her appearance after she finds out that her husband has a mistress back in Nigeria. Chika hides out during riots with a Muslim woman in "A Private Experience." In "Jumping Monkey Hill," Ujunwa find that her stories will only be accepted at a writing retreat if they uphold a specific version of being African. And in the title story, Akunna finds life in America completely different than she imagined and wonders if a new romance can lessen the feeling of never belonging.
The Thing Around Your Neck is the perfect way to dip your toes into Adichie's work. I'm looking forward to reading her novels and spending more time with her precise writing, fascinating characters, and insights about belonging and finding a balance between two very different cultures.
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