Second Class Citizen (novel)
Second Class Citizen is a 1974 novel by Nigerian author Buchi Emecheta. It is often described as semi-autobiographical and follows Adah, a Nigerian woman who grows up in Lagos with dreams of moving to the United Kingdom. After her father dies, she goes to live with relatives, finishes school, and works as a library clerk for the American consulate. Her work helps her become a suitable wife for Francis, who goes to the UK to study accounting. Adah becomes the main breadwinner for the family, supporting herself, Francis, and their children as they try to belong in Britain.
In the UK, they face racism and the sense that they are second‑class residents because they are not citizens. Adah keeps working at libraries, cares for the children, and even writes a book about her life. Francis burns the manuscript, and Adah leaves him with the children. He beats her, but the court orders him to stay away and to pay child support. Adah vows to raise the children on her own. The story ends with Adah and her kids leaving the courthouse victorious, helped by a Nigerian friend who pays for her taxi home.
The book is a sequel to Emecheta’s In the Ditch and is noted for giving a clear voice to Black women’s experiences in Britain. It explores themes of gender and marriage, religion, and immigration. A new edition was published by Penguin Modern Classics in 2020. Critics have described it as a story about dreams and a girl finding her own voice in a world that tries to silence her.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:14 (CET).