Book Review: Half Of A Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun returns to a critical moment in the modern history of Nigeria, a time shortly after gaining their independence from Britain when, following a massacre of their people, the Igbo tribes of the southeast seceded and established The Republic of Biafra.

Set primarily in Nsukka, Nigeria during the Nigeria Biafra War (1967–70), the book follows several characters and tells multiple stories without becoming unwieldy. The primary characters are Olanna, a daughter of a well-connected man, who studied in England and lives with her boyfriend, Odenigbo, the university lecturer; Ugwu, the houseboy of Odenigbo; and Richard, a British man who came to Nigeria to write a book.

Half of a Yellow Sun is based on the real events of the war and while the characters are not real, they are based on real people. The book deals with themes of unity, division, nationalism, colonialism, love, genocide, war, and redemption. Not only does it provide an Igbo perspective on the Nigeria-Biafra War, but it provides a deeply human perspective into the grey morality that often emerges during times of strife. This book is for anyone interested in historical fiction and if you haven’t read a book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, then I recommend you start here.

Book Review Half Of A Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an award-winning Nigerian novelist, writer of short stories, and nonfiction. She has written the novels Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Americanah, the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), and the book-length essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014)