The Tiny Things are Heavier

For readers ofAmericanah,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 Heavierfollows 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.

After some time together, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria for the summer break, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan hopes 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 Heavieris 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.

Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwois a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a fourth-year PhD student in Creative Writing at Florida State University. Her works have appeared inIsele Magazine,Southeast Review, andCatapult. She’s a recipient of the 2021 Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and a 2024 Torch Literary Arts Fellowship. Home for her is Lagos, Nigeria. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Publish Date: June 24, 2025
• Pages: 288
• Dimensions: 6.1 X 9.24 X .9 inches | 1.0 pounds
• Language:English
• Type:Paperback
• EAN/UPC: 9781639734108
• BISAC Categories: Literary Fiction