Half of a Yellow Sun

I love the book. Nicely organized to follow the story. This is my first read from Chimamanda and I will surely be reading Americanah. Thanks

it's a nice book, arrived in good condition and the paper cover version was wrapped.

Amazing book, strong writing. How love, relationships between man and woman, siblings, parents and children are so universal. How war can bring up the worst and the best in people. If you remember Biafra this narrative will give it good context, very sad and beautiful at the same time

Une claque. Page turner saisissant autant que sensible et émouvant.

Absolutely delighted with the fact the novel with the correct cover was sent through following what may have been a misunderstanding. Thanks to the team! Yet to read the book, but happy to have it part of the bookshelf :)

This is the original copy of the book. Not the photocopied version. As per the the material, it is great.

A stirring, heartbreaking account of the Nigerian Civil War, as seen through the eyes of three very different characters. The novel starts in the early sixties, not long after the end of British colonial rule, presenting a nation, Nigeria, that did not exist before the British invented it. As the British continue to meddle in the shadows, the disparate peoples of newly independent Nigeria are left to figure out how to coexist. We are introduced to this world by Ugwu, a village boy who has just landed a coveted position as a houseboy for a university professor, Odenigbo. Through the perspectives of Ugwu, Odenigbo’s lover Olanna, and British expat Richard, the story of the rise and horrific fall of the breakaway state of Biafra is told. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie brings this terrible story to life in clear, powerful prose, and creates fully human characters, with all the flaws and internal inconsistencies inherent in the human condition. Ugwu is easy to sympathize with, though he never questions his position, and often has little sympathy for others. Expat Richard is a good man who desperately wants to be seen as different from the other white men in the country, but can not grasp the extent of his privilege. Odenigbo and his band of academics are full of revolutionary zeal, but steadfastly refuse to consider what consequences the realization of their ideals might bring. One of the things I really liked was the dichotomy between twin sisters Olanna and Kainene. Olanna is the more outwardly idealistic of the pair, the one who makes a show of eschewing her family’s status to move in with her academic lover, while fatalistic Kainene takes over aspects of the family’s sprawling business interests. When the war breaks out Olanna suffers much more than her sister, who rides out most of the conflict in relative comfort. But it’s Kainene who sees with clearer eyes and uses her privilege to render aid, while Olanna never manages to rid herself of her bourgeois haughtiness. This is a novel written by an Igbo author about Igbo characters, and the atrocities committed against the majority Igbo Biafrans by the Nigerians are well known and well documented, but Adichie here has the courage not to show the Igbo as entirely blameless. Biafra has its own corruption, and the Igbo commit their own atrocities born out of prejudice. We have a tendency to simplify historic wars, to gloss over complexities and hide from truths that don’t fit easily within the prevailing narrative. In Half of a Yellow Sun Adichie thankfully doesn’t do this.