Americanah characters

Appears from the start

A Nigerian writer living in Princeton after thirteen years in the United States. She travels to Trenton to have her hair braided before returning to Lagos, a decision that means ending her successful blog about race and leaving her boyfriend. Observant and independent, she is already questioning the American life she has built.

Appears from the start

A Senegalese braider working in the Trenton salon where Ifemelu spends the day. Direct and inquisitive, she asks Ifemelu for help contacting an Igbo man she wants to marry and provides a sharp contrast to Ifemelu's assumptions about African immigrants in America.

Appears from the start

Ifemelu's American boyfriend, a Black political-science professor at Yale. Principled, intellectual, and highly disciplined, he shares many of her interests in race and public life, but she has decided to leave both him and the United States.

First appears in chapter 2

Ifemelu's first great love, now a wealthy businessman in Lagos. Once an idealistic reader who dreamed of America, he has acquired money and status in democratic Nigeria and lives with his wife and young daughter, though news from Ifemelu still unsettles him.

First appears in chapter 2

Obinze's beautiful, socially polished wife. She is devoted to maintaining an orderly family life and is alert to the expectations placed on the wife of a prosperous Lagos businessman.

First appears in chapter 2

Obinze and Kosi's young daughter, cherished by both parents and protected within their comfortable Lagos household.

First appears in chapter 4

Ifemelu's glamorous and practical aunt, close enough in age to seem like an older sister. In Lagos she is the mistress of a powerful military officer and the mother of his son, living comfortably but always subject to his position and decisions.

First appears in chapter 6

Aunty Uju's son and Ifemelu's younger cousin. Born into privilege in Lagos, he is still a child when political danger forces his mother to rebuild their life abroad.

First appears in chapter 11

Ifemelu's lively secondary-school friend, whose family connections make her worldly and socially confident. After moving to the United States, she helps Ifemelu navigate the practical and cultural shocks of her own arrival.

First appears in chapter 17

A wealthy white woman who hires Ifemelu to care for her children. Warm, anxious, and eager to do the right thing, she welcomes Ifemelu into her family circle and offers the first stable employment of Ifemelu's American life.

First appears in chapter 22

Kimberly's charming cousin, a wealthy white American who pursues Ifemelu with confidence. His ease, optimism, and uncomplicated certainty initially make the attention feel like an escape from the strain of her immigrant life.

First appears in chapter 35

Blaine's charismatic sister, a successful writer who draws an admiring circle around her. Brilliant and cutting, she voices frustrations about the compromises expected of Black artists and becomes an intimidating presence in Ifemelu's life with Blaine.

First appears in chapter 44

Ifemelu's close friend in Lagos, stylish and candid about work, romance, and the compromises of contemporary Nigerian life. She welcomes Ifemelu back after her years in America.