The Thing Around Your Neck, The American Embassy - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009)

Extract

[...] We progressively learn that something tragic deeply changed the woman's life: one night, dangerous, inebriated men broke into her house in search of her husband. Her little boy was accidentally shot to death and to avoid being silenced too, she escaped and was injured in her fall. Actually, her husband is an opposition journalist advocating democracy and who had the chance to flee abroad shortly before. When she can finally tell her story to the embassy clerk, she fails to detail her son's death because of overwhelming grief and finally leaves. [...]

[...] The Thing Around Your Neck, The American Embassy - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009) The American Embassy As the title indicates, the plot takes place in the American Embassy in Nigeria, more specifically outside the building, where people line up in wait of a mandatory interview for a visa. Most of them seek asylum in the United States due to the Nigerian government threatening citizens with its henchmen. Among them is a woman who repeatedly blacks out into her memories and who comes back to reality when the man behind her starts a conversation, or when she sees a soldier brutalize a citizen. [...]