Ms Buchi Emecheta is indeed one of the leading lights documenting the experience of Africans in the diaspora.She is indeed gifted.In this book which deals with the gradual emigration of a Jamaican family to England and the trials and tribulations they face there.It also deals with the issue of sexual abuse and incest and the damage it has on the family. The main character is a girl who lived with her grandmother in Jamaica for some years before joining her parents in England.It also has as a subtheme how the Black immigrants generally live in the U.K.I would indeed recommend it wholeheartedly to everybody.When you talk about Interpreters of Maladies the award winning book know that Ms Emecheta was indeed making chronicles of the African experience in the diaspora 20 years before that.

A story of an African American female's struggle for acceptance, this book is much like any other novel concerning women's oppression. If you enjoy reading about the horrible events that took place during the middle 1900's, then read the book. If you do not enjoy reading another book about women's suffrage, and do not want to feel guilty for something which you would never allow or endorse, then stay away.

"Second Class Citizen" is the story of Adah, a resourceful, intelligent girl from Nigeria who comes to Great Britain shortly after Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Going to Great Britain was a dream she pursued with determination against the wishes of the family of her husband, who had departed for Great Britain before her, and against the traditional role which her native culture saw fit for women. Adah is not so much disappointed with what she finds in Great Britain (surprisingly, since she expected to find the "kingdom of heaven" there) but with the lack of change in her husband who neither can nor wants to question his traditional ways. On top of that he is lazy, bad tempered, and spoilt. He does not care for his wife, he cares for the money she brings home so that he can slouch on the couch and otherwise follow his whims.

Adah brings an interesting aspect to racism: You are only a victim if you think of yourself as a victim. For her part, she never accepts that she is regarded as a "second class citizen" because she is black or because she is a woman. Her husband, on the other hand, wants to fit in and actually tries to conform to the society's racist view of him. He has lost his sense of dignity, but Adah has not. She draws great strength from her determination to lead a better life, to get an education, to give a better life to her children, and to become a writer.

The style in which the novel is narrated is very plain and simple, just in line with Adah's sraightforward, practically minded character. It is quite unemotional and creates a certain distance between Adah and the reader. Beneath Adah's tough surface, however, one can sense the pain she feels at not being loved by her husband "for what she was and not just because she could work and hand over her money like a docile child."

"Second Class Citizen" is an impressive portrait of human dignity under pressure, and of the the sheer will of an individual to persist and to be what she knows she can be.

You can never go wrong with Buchi Emechete. Her books are multi-layered and beautiful. She is a masterful storyteller and presents the complexity of tribal versus modern life from a feminine view. If you love writing with a feminist bend, you will enjoy her works. A+++