The Tiny Things Are Heavier
An immigrant contends with alienation and love in Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo’s spirited novel The Tiny Things Are Heavier.
Nigerian Sommy is a graduate student in Iowa, though she’s ambivalent about the virtues of the American dream. She rooms with boisterous Bayo—also from Nigeria—and hides her guilt over her brother Meizie’s recent suicide attempt. She tries to fit in with her classmates, experimenting with clothes and copying their intellectual pretensions. Still, she knows that she’s an outsider. Comfort sex somewhat alleviates her loneliness but also leads to a misunderstanding.
Sommy is an introspective heroine. For her, homesickness leads to malaise, but it is also a potent reminder of who she is. Studying overseas is a form of exile but also a chance to unearth her strength.
After Sommy meets Bryan, a biracial writer whose Nigerian father left his family, she travels with him to Lagos on an extended break. This sparks the duo to reckon with the strength of their bond. In Lagos, Sommy—a daughter who chose to move away—is buffeted by her family’s opinions: She is treated as both a success story and someone who betrayed her roots.
Lagos is a shimmering, cacophonous backdrop for Sommy’s tale—a place of contrasts and culture. A manslaughter and a lie about its perpetrator add themes of justice and privilege to the story. Amid this tangle, Sommy’s perceptions about her loved ones bloom into clearer awareness of whom she needs to prioritize most to survive.
The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a piercing coming-of-age novel in which a woman learns to separate other people’s expectations from her own desires.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
