The Tiny Things Are Heavier
A Novel
-
-
4.3 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $19.99
Publisher Description
Named a Best Book of 2025 by Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Forbes.
"This book is best for anyone who loved Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah"-Forbes
"Okonkwo's ability to skillfully narrate the triumphs, upheavals and disappointments of young love defies comparison to any other writer"-Vogue
A heart-rending debut novel about a Nigerian immigrant as she tries to find her place at home and in America-a powerful epic about love, grief, family, and belonging.
The Tiny Things Are Heavier follows Sommy, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for graduate school two weeks after her brother, Mezie, attempts suicide. Plagued by the guilt of leaving Mezie behind, Sommy struggles to fit into her new life as a student and an immigrant. Lonely and homesick, Sommy soon enters a complicated relationship with her boisterous Nigerian roommate, Bayo, a relationship that plummets into deceit when Sommy falls for Bryan, a biracial American, whose estranged Nigerian father left the States immediately after his birth. Bonded by their feelings of unbelonging and a vague sense of kinship, Sommy and Bryan transcend the challenges of their new relationship.
During summer break, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan plans to connect with his father. But when a shocking and unexpected event throws their lives into disarray, it exposes the cracks in Sommy's relationships and forces her to confront her notions of self and familial love.
A daring and ambitious novel rendered in stirring, tender prose, The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria's class system, and how far we'll go to protect those we love.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A Nigerian woman struggles with her sense of home, belonging, and identity in this blazing literary fiction debut. Sommy has always been restless. But moving to Iowa to complete her master’s degree just weeks after her brother’s suicide attempt fills her with so much guilt and confusion that she quickly dives into a relationship with her new Nigerian American friend Bryan. They plan a visit back to Nigeria together, where Bryan can reconnect with his father, but the trip only makes things more disastrous. Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo gracefully captures the trials and tribulations of young love, with sharp observations about immigrant experiences and the complexities of family life. These characters are deeply flawed, layered, and utterly relatable. We particularly loved the fraught Thanksgiving scene, which seems to encapsulate all the novel’s tensions over loss and assimilation in one meal. The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a heart-rending and thought-provoking tale about hardships that can span continents.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Okonkwo debuts with a competent campus novel about immigration and love. Sommy is a Nigerian graduate student from Lagos studying English literature in Iowa. When her roommate, Bayo, invites her to a gathering of Black graduate students, she meets future friends Kayla and Nia, as well as future love interest Bryan. Meanwhile, her brother Mezie, who recently tried to kill himself, won't return her calls. As the semester progresses, Sommy grapples with loneliness and feeling homesick until she begins a casual affair with Bayo. When she begins simultaneously dating Bryan, her secret love triangle threatens to upend her new American life. Bryan accompanies her to Nigeria to find his birth father, where tensions boil over during an argument in the car between the couple and Mezie, who is driving, and who accidentally hits a pedestrian. Though Okonkwo's writing can be pedantic and simplistic, the novel offers a well-rounded depiction of the difficulties faced by a young woman torn in opposing directions. Describing the attraction between Sommy and Bryan, Okonkwo writes, "He is intrigued by her stories about Nigeria. He likes her tales about Lagos, the people, the traffic, the hustle and bustle. It's the opposite of the quiet suburbs of Illinois, where he'd grown up." It's a solid coming-of-age story.
