This is a novel about the immigrant experience of a Nigerian family that wins a lottery to come to the US. The father is an academic and went along with his wife that it would be good for them to leave Nigeria. He is the narrator and the novel follows them from staying with a relative in Queens to moving to a house in New Jersey as he gets a nursing license and he struggles to get an academic job while working as a security guard. According to his wife, he is obsessed with race, but his views are nuanced and very interesting. Overall an excellent story that rings true and leaves you thinking about it long after finishing. ( )

Lukmon hadn't been keen on immigrating to America, but his wife, Moriam, was a force not lightly denied. She convinced him that their two children would get better educations in the US than in Nigeria, and, educated in London himself, he let himself be convinced. They first stay with his cousin in New Jersey, but soon find their own place. Moriam begins studying for the nursing credentials she needs to practice in the US, and Lukmon begins looking for a job in academia.

Moriam and the kids seem to adjust relatively easily, but Lukmon has a harder time. For him, racism in the US is a complex and pervasive force that is a constant threat to his family.

I was so prepared for being black in America that I could separate the racist from the person and deal with the unracist part of them. In fact, racism was a given now. Yes, because it was safer for me to assume white people were racist until proven otherwise. It was also reasonable to, because if I were white, it would take a lot of effort not to be racist in America. You passed someone sleeping on a street, what color was he or she likely to be? You watched breaking news about an innocent suspect shot to death by the police, well, you could easily misconstrue that black people were inferior.

As for black-on-black crime, or whatever it was called, I wasn't worried about that. I was coming from a country where practically every crime committed was black on black.

As he tries to untangle both interracial and intra-racial relationships in America, he find himself becoming isolated from his wife and children. To them, he is making everything a race issue. To him, they are denying essential parts of themselves in order to fit in.

I was winding {Moriam} up again and she was in no mood. To be honest I was nervous about meeting Alice's parents. I hoped they were my kind of immigrants—bad ones, not the kind who aspired to be honorary whites.

For most of the book, Lukmon is an observer, and the reader sees everything—race, politics, gender roles—through his eyes. It is only at the very end of the book that he acts, and it is in an unexpected and uncomfortable way.

I was very impressed with this novel, the first I've read by Atta. The writing is superb, the plot compelling, and the ideas thought-provoking. The characters are complex, with no easy passes for anyone. It's a book that begs to be discussed, and it would make a great book club selection. ( )

Self Atta’s latest novel is a mesmerizing tale that follows a Nigerian family’s immigration to the US. Lukemon is a literature professor, his wife a nurse, and they have two teen-aged children. Set in 2000 - 2001, the story is narrated by Lukemon who chronicles the family’s migration and settlement as the family adjusts to this new life. Lukemon is intelligent, sometimes cranky and skeptical about whether they made the right decision…(for more read the book’s synopsis elsewhere on this book's page)

Almost immediately and unexpectedly I found myself completely immersed in this story, in these people’s lives. Immigration is not easy, nor simple, nor guaranteed to turn out the way one might imagine. This is an intelligent, intimate tale, which is often extremely thought-provoking, sometimes painfully. As a reader, leave your preconceptions at the front cover, and you will find this is a kind of book that can broaden your thinking.

Note: I have mixed feelings about some of the ending, but….but, I gave the book five stars for brain stimulation.
Note 2: Would make a great book club read for the right group. ( )