Ever hovering in Ifemelu's thoughts is her high school boyfriend, Obinze, an equally intelligent if gentler, more self-effacing Nigerian, who outstays his visa and takes illegal jobs in London.
They say every dark cloud has a silver lining, though in Britain the ever hovering nebulae seem to herald less glinting optimism and more freezing temperatures along with soaring gas bills.
Its approval rating is the lowest ever, hovering around 10percentt.
"Attendance fell by a million" after 9/11, said Harold Holzer, a spokesman for the museum, "and has been working its way back" ever since, "hovering around 4.7 million" in recent years.
Mariah Carey's "Emancipation of Mimi" (Island/Def Jam) reached No.1 on the Billboard album chart when it was released two months ago, and it has remained a strong seller ever since, hovering high in the top five as other albums have come and gone.
Chirp, ever loyal, hovered nearby, her red comb drooping over one eye, like a dowager who can't keep her hat on straight after one too many martinis.
Even for working mothers, evictions and the ensuing damage to social ties, schooling and credit ratings can be an ever-hovering threat.
Not even Peter Jackson would be able to keep pace with Wagner's hurtling, hovering, ever-evolving musical images, although someday an opera house is certain to ask him to try.
Soon I was jumping out of the first helicopter I'd ever set foot in, hovering a few meters above the side of a steep mountain.
In short, the spirit of Malcolm Tucker hovers ever near at hand.
The unique technology allows the F35-B – the most expensive military project ever attempted – to hover just feet above the ground, and to land vertically on new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
