Free Blink (45 - What Napoleon Could Not Do)
What Napoleon Could Not Do
DK Nnuro
A Novel
What's it about?
What Napoleon Could Not Do (2023) explores the contrasting experiences of two Ghanaians, Jacob and Belinda, and their aspirations in the United States. Jacob, an awkward computer programmer who still lives with his father, wants to join his wife in America but is foiled by visa denials. His sister, Belinda, meanwhile, has studied in the US and married an American – Wilder, a prosperous Black Texan businessman. But she, too, contends with disappointment: as she waits for her green card, her perception of America is soured by racism. Their journeys reflect the allure and letdowns of life in a foreign land, and the narrative insightfully captures how each grapples with dreams both realized and thwarted.
About the author
NK Nnuro is a Ghanaian-born writer based in Iowa. A graduate of John Hopkins and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he previously taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and is currently the curator of special projects at the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art. What Napoleon Could Not Do is his first novel.
