Second-Class Citizen (Paperback)

Buchi Emecheta

ISBN 10: 024153268X / ISBN 13: 9780241532683

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2021

About this Item

Paperback. A tale of survival from one of the most beloved Nigerian writers, now in Penguin Modern Classics for the first timeWhen Adah's dream of moving to England becomes a reality, she soon discovers that life for a young Nigerian woman living in London in the 1960s is far from what she had imagined. The cold weather and cramped, crumbling accommodation might become bearable, were it not for her tyrannical husband who abuses the power conferred on him by traditional Igbo culture and provides precious little support of any kind.As Adah finds herself providing for her rapidly growing family - rescuing her children from the hands of a slovenly childminder, learning the unspoken rules of society and negotiating everyday slights and wounding insults along the way - she takes refuge in her work as a librarian and resolves to salvage her dreams of becoming a writer.Second Class Citizen is the story of a woman's courage in the face of crushing inequalities that threaten to overwhelm her as she navigates the rigid patriarchal culture of her birth and discovers the racism at the heart of her adopted home. It also captures in vivid and moving detail, the experience of so many West African families who arrived in the UK at that time. Funny, poignant and profound, Emecheta's groundbreaking novel resonates as powerfully today as when it was first published. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241532683

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Second-Class Citizen (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 024153268X
• ISBN 13: 9780241532683
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

''Fresh, timeless ... a lively work of art'' Observer

''Buchi Emecheta was the foremother of black British women''s writing . . . powerful fictions written from and about our lives'' Bernardine Evaristo

''Most dreams, as all dreamers know quite well, do have setbacks. Adah''s dream was no exception, for hers had many''

They nicknamed Adah ''the Igbo tigress'' at school in Nigeria, she was so fearless. Now she has moved to London to join her husband, and is determined to succeed. But her welcome from 1960''s England - and the man she married - is a cold one. Providing for her growing family, struggling to survive and negotiating everyday injustices along the way, Adah still resolves that she will never give up her dream of becoming a writer.

''Bold, brave, defiant ... its exploration of blackness, the white gaze, and the development of the main character Adah''s sense of self is extremely powerful'' Gal-dem