The knots in his stomach tightened again. Ehimen wished he were invisible so teachers would stop asking him to read or answer questions, sparing him from the derision of his classmates, who seized every opportunity to mock his American accent, his responses, or both. It was why he dithered before answering ‘papaya’. 

Blouin's autobiography is a delightful and harrowing account of her life as a Pan-African political strategist and adviser to African revolutionary leaders during and after colonial rule.

In piecing together a plotless narrative of unresolved dreams, with women who are adept at diagnosing each other’s flaws but incapable of training the same analytical gaze on their own experiences, Adichie has dutifully crafted characters that are messy and real.

Winner of the 2024 Orwell Prize for political fiction, My Friends is not your typical immigrant tale in which the protagonist ultimately finds a semblance of security, stability and peace in the bosom of their adoptive home. Here, rather, fear is a pervasive, palpable feature for exiled Libyan writers and dissenters.