Nigerian literature is exceptional — some of the best writing in the English language of the past century has come from here.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958) — The starting point for any reading on Nigeria. Set in an Igbo village at the moment of colonial contact, it is the most widely read African novel ever published. Short, precise, and devastating. Read it before you go.
Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe (1964) — Achebe's third novel, and by many accounts his finest. Set in 1920s Igboland, it follows a chief priest caught between tradition and colonial power. More complex than Things Fall Apart.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006) — A novel set before and during the Biafran War (1967–70), one of the most traumatic events in Nigerian history. Adichie writes with enormous empathy and clarity. Essential for understanding the Igbo southeast and modern Nigerian identity.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003) — Her debut, set in contemporary Enugu. A quietly devastating novel about a devout Catholic family. Excellent on the textures of middle-class Nigerian life.
Season of Anomy by Wole Soyinka (1973) — A dense, allegorical novel by Nigeria's Nobel laureate, written in response to the Biafran War. Soyinka is more accessible through his memoir Aké: The Years of Childhood — a beautiful account of growing up in Abeokuta in the 1940s.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) — A novel about a young Nigerian woman who moves to the United States for university. Sharply observed on race, identity, and the experience of return. Very good on Lagos as seen through the eyes of someone coming back after years away.
The Africa House by Christina Lamb (1999) — Not Nigeria specifically, but a useful companion to reading about West Africa's colonial legacy and post-independence history.
Nigeria: A New History of a Turbulent Century by Richard Bourne (2015) — The clearest single-volume political history of Nigeria from independence to the present. Sober and well-sourced.