The Tiny Things Are Heavier - by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo (Hardcover)

About the Book

Named a Best Book of 2025 by Vogue and Harper's Bazaar

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.

Book Synopsis

Named a Best Book of 2025 by Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Forbes.

"A gracefully told and sharply observed debut." -Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age

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 Heavier follows 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.

During summer break, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan plans 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 Heavier is 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.

Review Quotes

"Okonkwo's ability to skillfully narrate the triumphs, upheavals and disappointments of young love defies comparison to any other writer; the fact that The Tiny Things Are Heavier is Okonkwo's debut is hard to believe given the fully realized scope of her prose." --Emma Specter, Vogue

"An immigrant contends with alienation and love in Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo's spirited novel The Tiny Things Are Heavier...a piercing coming-of-age novel in which a woman learns to separate other people's expectations from her own desires." --Karen Rigby, Forward Review

"A young Nigerian woman's graduate school sojourn in Iowa affects things with family and friends on two continents-but mainly changes her relationship to herself . . . A fresh bildungsroman rich in complex relationships, from familial to intimate." --Kirkus

"An expansive first novel about a woman searching for home, love, and belonging . . . Okonkwo asks her readers to reflect upon class, privilege, race, gender, and their interlocking power structures, as well as the importance of place to one's sense of self. The Tiny Things Are Heavier is thought-provoking and unforgettable." --Shelf Awareness

"A gracefully told and sharply observed debut. Okonkwo has produced a beautiful study and story of what we owe to our families, friends, lovers, and ourselves. Complex characters, wild intimacy . . . this one doesn't shy away from the truth of devastation.
" --Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of SUCH A FUN AGE and COME AND GET IT

"The brilliant, unpretentious music of Okonkwo's prose delights the ear, her twisty, page-turning narrative delights the mind, and the wincing, bighearted bumble of her characters delights the soul. A profound, lasting debut, and a sincere blast to read." --Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of MARTYR!

"The Tiny Things are Heavier is a brave, winning novel of contemporary migration, with all the collisions and losses, the transformations and conflicts it brings. Okonkwo's writing is confident, lush, embodied, and a joy to read. In her carefully-rendered and specific world, we touch, and are moved by, the universal.
" --Sarah Thankam Mathews, National Book Award-nominated author of ALL THIS COULD BE DIFFERENT

"An incredibly moving portrait of a woman becoming. Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo has gifted us profound writing and an exquisitely-realized cast of characters." --LaToya Watkins, National Book Award-nominated author of PERISH and HOLLER, CHILD

"A rich, complex and wholly moving account of just a fraction of a life that feels so wide and full that it's hard to believe it's fiction, and it's marvel to know that a writer like Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo is only just beginning what I'm sure will be a long and stunning career. The Tiny Things Are Heavier is both a gut-punch and a warm embrace of a novel that is not soon forgotten." --Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of THE THREE OF US

About the Author

Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a PhD from Florida State University. Her fiction has appeared in Isele Magazine, Guernica, and Catapult. She's a recipient of a 2021 Elizabeth George Foundation Grant. Home for her is Lagos, Nigeria. She lives in Detroit, Michigan.