I read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and as I’m reading, I think to myself This is a very modern Victorian novel.
Then I stop and think on my thought. Classifying something as a Victorian novel sounds like something smart that would come out of the mouth of someone who studies English Literature or Literary Criticism. It does not really sound like something that someone who studied Math for ten years and has maybe read one Victorian novel ever (The Woman in White) would say.
This morning I type in Americanah and Victorian into a search engine. First hit – Globe and Mail review of the book.
I nod. So that’s where my Victorian moniker came from. I’m really not that clever after all. What a relief.