Episode 17: Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta

Introduction

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In episode seventeen, we discuss Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen.

Published in 1974, Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen is the story of Adah, a young Nigerian woman, mother and wife who follows her husband to London in the pursuit of an independent life free from strict cultural traditions.

Adah’s desire for equality and her struggle for self-confidence and dignity are themes that are reoccurring in Buchi’s work, and Second Class Citizen is an typical example of that.

However, in 1960s London, Adah faces new struggles as a black immigrant, among them racism and the harsh realities of her marriage.