An account of an immigrant family's struggle and the lessons learned
about diversity from the Wole Soyinka prize-winning author of
Everything Good Will Come
Writing at the height of her powers, The Bad Immigrant cements Sefi
Atta's place as one of the best storytellers of our time. Through the
voice of her first male protagonist, Lukmon, Atta peels away nuanced
layers to expose the realities of migration from Nigeria to the USA,
such as the strains of adjustment and the stifling pressure to conform
without loss of identity.
Covering a wide range of issues, including interracial and intra-racial
tensions, and familial strains exacerbated in a new geographic and
cultural environment, this novel is a thoroughgoing exposition of the
many challenges that confront a modern migrant, told from the
perspective of a protagonist whose sophistication and educational
prowess is no guarantee of success in a country that is prone to valuing
conformity over merit. Atta grounds Lukmon's narrative in a wide array
of cultural and literary allusions that testify to the author's wit and
sophisticated management of complicated matters in a manner at once
erudite and accessible.
In The Bad Immigrant, Atta deftly drives the narrative forward with
repartee that forges deep intimacy with the characters and engenders
sympathy for all of them, even those we find infuriating.
