Recommendations
Books Like Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta
Adah fights for her manuscript and her children in 1960s London
If Emecheta's unflinching account of domestic abuse, Adah's double marginalization in London, and the hard-won victory of her independence stayed with you, here are eight books that extend these themes.
- 1
Buy on AmazonThe Joys of Motherhood
by Buchi Emecheta
Emecheta's most celebrated novel — Nnu Ego's life in colonial Lagos and the bitter irony of motherhood as a Black woman's only identity; the masterpiece that builds on Second-Class Citizen's feminist foundation.
- 2
Buy on AmazonEfuru
by Flora Nwapa
The first novel published by an African woman — Nwapa's Igbo woman outside conventional marriage in 1960s Nigeria; the African predecessor in the tradition that Emecheta and Nwapa established together.
- 3
Buy on AmazonSo Long a Letter
by Mariama Bâ
Bâ's Senegalese epistolary feminist novel — the companion in African women's fiction; both novels are about women fighting for independence within African patriarchal structures across different national traditions.
- 4
Buy on AmazonNervous Conditions
by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Dangarembga's Zimbabwean feminist novel — the southern African continuation of the tradition Emecheta and Nwapa established; a young woman's account of education, sexism, and colonial constraint.
- 5
Buy on AmazonThe Lonely Londoners
by Sam Selvon
Selvon's 1956 Caribbean immigrant novel — the Black British literary companion that provides context for Adah's experience in London; the male Caribbean immigrant's version of the double marginalization Adah experiences.
- 6
Buy on AmazonWe Need New Names
by NoViolet Bulawayo
Bulawayo's Zimbabwean-American novel — the contemporary companion in African diaspora fiction; Darling's experience of immigration and belonging in America updates Adah's 1960s London experience.
- 7
Buy on AmazonThe Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — the companion in feminist fiction's account of domestic abuse and the fight for voice; Celie's experience in 1930s Georgia is the African-American parallel to Adah's 1960s London.
- 8
Buy on AmazonQuicksand
by Nella Larsen
Larsen's Harlem Renaissance novel — the earlier Black woman's account of moving between worlds, looking for the community that will receive her; Helga's European episode is the predecessor to Adah's London.
More Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.