From the award-winning, bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—a haunting story of love and war Recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Winner of Winners” awardWith effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern … independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.
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In 1967 Nigeria, the Igbo people of the East seceded to form their own nation of Biafra, inciting a bloody three-year civil war followed. This novel tells the story of that conflict, known as the Biafran War—an event largely forgotten outside Nigeria—through the eyes of five diverse characters: a university professor, his privileged girlfriend, their servant boy, her twin sister, and her British journalist boyfriend. This is a story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
A fascinating look at a part of African history I knew very little about–the BIafran War– despite being alive when it happened. Complex characters and a heart-wrenching plot make this a worthwhile read.
I really liked this book. This was the first time I’d read anything by Chimamanda and she didn’t disappoint. The Biafra War in Nigeria was a big deal when I was growing up. She tells about the tribal conflicts between the Igbo and the Hausa and how the war evolved. For the first part of the book, the story centered around Olanna and Odenigbo as tension between the two tribes stirred underneath. Odenigbo’s betrayal of her and her betrayal of her twin sister had drama as the country heads towards war. I liked her portrayal of Nigeria and the life that the upper class lives compared to the servant class. It was my first look at a modern African country.
This novel, Half of a Yellow Sun by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, is unusual but the reason for the book’s popularity becomes apparent within a few pages of reading: it is extremely good.
It is set in Nigeria, Africa during the 1960’s and deals with the troubled period around the time of the secession of Biafra and the war that follows. The book was recommended to me by my friend Mary. She did so with the proviso that, much of the detail of the suffering endured by the people during the war between Nigeria and Biafra, was harrowing, a real disgrace. This was certainly true.
The story opens before the war, shortly after Nigeria wins independence from the UK, when middle-class life at Nsukka University is rich in food, booze, revolutionary rhetoric and hope. Ugwu moves from the country to become the houseboy to an eccentric but charming academic at the University. It is narrated from the point of view of the three main characters. Ugwu, Olanna who is the wife of Ugwu’s master and Richard: the Englishman with whom Olanna’s twin sister lives.
The reader experiences the daily lives of the people through the eyes of the three characters . It is also through them that the violence, privations and terrors of the war are witnessed. However, the reader does not know any more than the characters know. As a result of this when the characters do not allow themselves to disbelieve the prospect of Biafran triumph. Only the reader with some knowledge of the history of the period will know better.
The author imposes a strict structure. Each chapter of Half of a Yellow Sun is told from a single viewpoint, and each break between chapters involves a shift to the viewpoint of a different character. Ugwu’s point of view is crucial. It is with his experience that the book begins and he also draws the story to a close. He is also the character most changed and corrupted by the evils of the war. When he is coerced into joining the Biafran army the reader observes his moral decline from taking part in a successful skirmish with Nigerian troops and, dubbed “Target Destroyer” by his fellow soldiers to his involvement in a gang rape of a girl in a bar. This very disturbing scene is clearly depicted and contrasted with earlier descriptions of Ugwu’s teenage fantasies, shame and sexual exploits. When the war is over and he returns to his family, he learns about of the gang rape of his own sister by Nigerian soldiers. Only Ugwu himself and the reader know just why he sobs so heavily and with such shame.
The increasing difficulties that Olanna and her family endure are unrelenting. The reader travels with them from the comfort of their home in Nsukka where they entertain friends and colleagues regularly. The family are complacent about the security of their social position and intellectual freedoms. We follow them from their comfortable home all the way to one scruffy room where the kitchen and bathroom are shared with numerous others and back to their home when they return after the war. We despair with Olanna as she queues for basic food from international aid agencies and learns to make soap from ash. The reader shares her pain when she returns to her home but it has been trashed by marauding forces. Olanna and Ugwu strive to return the property to its former glory.
Richard, from England, lives with Olanna’s twin sister and is the third narrator. He has an earnest interest in Nigerian art and history and comes to understand Igbo after he moves in with Olanna’s twin sister, Kainene. The reader experiences increasing disillusionment as Richard endures the disintegration of society in Biafra, his adopted country. We also feel his guilt and despair about Kainene’s death.
The author makes this forgotten war real again. She makes the reader aware of the tragedy behind the statistics. Although the book finishes somewhat abruptly after the war, I hesitate to complain that the final chapters seem rushed because I enjoyed the novel and found it surprisingly easy to read. Half of a Yellow Sun is impressive as a testament to human gentleness as well as cruelty. It is definitely worth reading. I highly recommend it.
A magnificent story, Dickensian in scale and range of characters, with three dimensional individuals. One of the best novels of this century.
The sad story of events in Biafra in the 1960’s makes for grim reading, but Adichie manages to make it possible to examine the tragedy through the eyes of 2 couples. Riveting, though sometimes grim. The houseboy is an important addition the the couples, as he develops into a great young man as the story goes on.
I have done this book with 3 book clubs, and each time the people say they are glad they read it.
Interesting family relationships. War is coming. People must make choices. Movie was great too.
Where to begin…this was a powerful book. To be honest at the beginning I didn’t love it – I just couldn’t connect with the characters. But by the second half of the book I couldn’t put it down.
The book follows the lives of 5 main characters through their experience of the Biafra – Nigeria war of 1967-70. It chronicles both the physical and mental tolls of war – Rape, starvation, bombings, as well as the unique and personal sacrifices and mistakes made, relationships tested, and forgiveness given.
While it is a work of fiction, the authors writing was influenced by the stories of her parents and other relatives who survived the war. This closeness to the subject matter was evidenced by the love and sadness woven throughout her writing and her ability to describe the ordinary (feelings, conversations, disagreements, making meals, raising a child, etc) within the extraordinary (war, secession, death of family and friends, destruction of community). She makes a subject matter that I have no experiential reference for feel hauntingly familiar and somehow relatable – I often found the decisions the characters made frustrating but I understood why they made them.
The author also has a really great TED talk called the danger of a single story. For myself growing up in Canada, and never having been to Africa this book has helped me make sure I have more than a single story of African and Nigerian places and people. I would definitely recommend it and plan on checking out more of her books soon.
A very moving story about race, love, heartache and renewal.
Beautifully crafted, unforgettable story with the the Nigerian Civil War in the background. Highly recommend!
Humblingly good. x
I loved learning the history of the times.
A must read. I didn’t know much about the Biafra War or post-colonialism in Nigeria at all, but this book both educated me and delivered a really impactful story. The characters are realistic, complex, and loveable.
The author is a world-class writer. It is a pleasure to read something so well-written and well-plotted.
Great way to describe the Biafra civil war.
Excellent. Everyone should read this.
I would read any thing by this woman!
This story, and these characters, will live on in my brain forever. This is an important book about a horrific time in the world. The characters are beautifully and realistically drawn as is the short and tragic history of Biafra. I bought a hardcover copy of this for my son.
Very enjoyable and compelling book. Loved it.
I love her writing!