Second Class Citizen

Second Class Citizen (1974) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Buchi Emecheta. Emecheta grew up in Nigeria and immigrated to England in the 1960s with her husband, Sylvester, following a similar path to the protagonist of the work, Adah. Second Class Citizen is one of Emecheta’s first novels, and it is one of two that focus on the semi-autobiographical character Adah. Emecheta’s first novel, In The Ditch (1972), also focuses on Adah and follows elements of Emecheta’s own life.

In 2020, Second Class Citizen became a Penguin Modern Classic. The novel follows Adah’s childhood in Nigeria, her marriage to her husband Francis, and her experiences as a mother in England. The novel explores an African woman’s dependence and oppression, the struggles of immigration to a former colonizing country, and the fight to achieve one’s own goals and to provide a better future for one’s children.

The novel also discusses issues of race, class, and gender, especially under the lens of discrimination in both Nigeria and in England. A primary focus of the work is the difference between the cultural and social understandings of one’s role as a woman, wife, and mother in both countries; Adah, the protagonist, consistently redefines her own role for herself, her husband, and her children.