Buchi Emecheta: The New Tribe

She's a good writer, no doubt about it.  But this rather forced novel probably would have most appeal to teenagers who themselves have what we might call "Africa Identity Crisis"... that is, they grow up in U.S. or U.K. and no longer know what it means to be comfortable with identity as African.  True to her own life experience, Emecheta guides the reader away from simple resolutions: identity is more complicated than eating fufu, and the responsible thing to do is encourage, enable, but also question... so a great novel for a multicultural class in high school!

I found myself very immersed in the characters until mid-way through, when the sister disappears and Chester goes off to Nigeria... a trip the reader anticipates weith dread... it turns out as bad as one expected, but somehow there is no emotional cost to Chester or the reader... somehow Emecheta disengages the intensity- like I said, good for high school, but not compelling for the experienced reader.