Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie prefers thorny, resistant characters to simply likeable ones. When Ifemelu, the outspoken heroine of her novel Americanah (Knopf), moves from Lagos to the US, she begins to blog her provocatively blatant reflections on the difference between African Americans and "American Africans." Adichie talks about Ifemelu's compelling imprudence — and why readers shouldn't settle for characters that are less than difficult.
Read an excerpt from Americanah.