Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

WINNER OF THE BAILEYS PRIZE BEST OF THE BEST Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, this is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpiece Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. And Richard, a shy English writer, is in thrall to Olannaâe(tm)s enigmatic twin sister. As the horrific Biafran War engulfs them, they are thrown together and pulled apart in ways they had never imagined. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieâe(tm)s masterpiece, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, is a novel about Africa in a wider sense: about the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class and race âe" and about the ways in which love can complicate all of these things.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Re-creates the 1960s struggle of Biafra to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, following the intertwined lives of the characters through a military coup, the Biafran secession, and the resulting civil war.

Clarissa 

The real tragedy of our postcolonial world is not that the majority of people had no say in whether or not they wanted this new world; rather, it is that the majority have not been given the tools to negotiate this new world.

‘There are two answers to the things they will teach you about our land: the real answer and the answer you give in school to pass. […] They will teach you that a white man called Mungo Park discovered River Niger. That is rubbish. Our people fished in the Niger long before Mungo Park's grandfather was born. But in your exam, write that it was Mungo park’

Laura Gill

Olanna leaned back on the seat. Kainene's approval, something she had never felt before, was like a sweetness on her tongue, a surge of ability, a good omen. Suddenly her decision became final; she would bring the baby home.

nicole rapu

With her award-winning debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was heralded by the Washington Post Book World as the “21st century daughter” of Chinua Achebe. Now, in her masterly, haunting new novel, she recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria during the 1960s. 

With the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Adichie weaves together the lives of five characters caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo’s beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents’ world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father’s business; and Kainene’s English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place.
Epic, ambitious and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a more powerful, dramatic and intensely emotional picture of modern Africa than any we have had before.
--https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/879/half-yellow-sun#9780676978131

Half of a Yellow Sun is a symphony of grief and resilience. Every page held a shedding of lives, dreams, and certainties. It made me ache for my people, for a Nigeria that might have been, and for the countless silenced voices of Biafra. I took pauses, I wept in silence, and I left with a new reverence for our history. Chimamanda didn’t just write a novel. She handed me a mirror, and in it, I saw fragments of a stolen future…

Oluwapelumi Alo 

Chris Dailey

Broad yet intimate, the novel centers around dissimilar twin sisters and their lovers in Nigeria during the post-colonial 1960's. Told from three alternating perspectives over the decade as the mood in the recently independent nation turns from triumphant to turbulent to tragic as the country devolves into civil war. Emotionally powerful throughout, the strongest moments are the small ones and the most human- the descriptions of food, sex, love, loyalty, jealousy, insecurity are superb. The imagery almost becomes unbearable at times where the topic shifts to war and famine with visceral descriptions of death, starvation, desperation and rape. Consistency vulnerable and human, it's an important piece of fiction that tells a story forgotten or never known in the West.

Amelia C 

She never misses. Captivating exploration of the impacts of war and colonialism on domestic life. I know the ambiguous ending can be upsetting, but it seems like a statement on the open door between the past and present.

elizabeth

arwen

Rahmat Junaid

It was amazing. I loved how it showed me the history of my country, it was breathtakingly good and I was captured through out the novel.

In 1960s Nigeria, Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, goes to work for Odenigbo, a radical university professor. Soon they are joined by Olanna, a young woman who has abandoned a life of privilege to live with her charismatic lover. Into their world comes Richard, an English writer, who has fallen for Olanna’s sharp-tongued sister Kainene. But when the shocking horror of civil war engulfs the nation, their loves and loyalties are severely tested, while their lives pull apart and collide once again in ways none of them could have imagined
--back cover

hileahrious

Adichie's writing does not cease to amaze me. I don't know how she does it. This is an incredible book with amazing characters and a magical magnetism. I don't think I lost interest at any moment, my only qualm is perhaps the ending... I wasn't completely satisfied. But then again, how can you finalize the tragedies of war? You never can, and so perhaps that is why the author leaves us with a feeling of unverified loss.

Aamna

Could see the hints of the magic that would shine through in Americanah some 10 years later

Olanna och Kainene är så olika som två tvillingsystrar kan bli. Olanna har ärvt sin moders mjuka kvinnliga skönhet och hon gör sig till vän med alla. Kainene är sluten och hård och bestämmer sig tidigt för att gå i sin välbeställda faders fotspår och bli affärskvinna. Hon möter engelsmannen Richard som blir blixtförälskad i henne men hon funderar inte ett ögonblick på att bilda familj till skillnad från Olanna som flyttar ihop med sin stora kärlek, Odenigbo och får en dotter, Baby. Hos Odenigbo möter vi också hans unge tjänare Ugwu, en fattig pojke från landet som i ung ålder visar att han har huvudet på skaft och behandlas som en i familjen. Men det är svåra tider i Nigeria även för de privilegierade och när kriget bryter ut blir de alla offer för fruktansvärda händelser som sliter sönder deras liv. Hem och familj splittras, Ugwu blir tillfångatagen och tvingad att gå ut i strid, Olanna och Richard söker tröst hos varandra och ideal och lojalitet testas och förskjuts för alltid. En halv gul sol skildrar med närvaro och intensitet livet för ett antal människor i fred och krig i Afrika – en stor roman som lämnar starkt avtryck. Boken har nominerats till Orangepriset, ett av den engelskspråkiga litteraturens mest prestigefyllda pris. ”En milstolpe som med sin precisa prosa uttrycker varje nyans. Det finns en ovanlig känslomässig sanning i sexscenerna, från Ugwus tonårsupplevelser, det vuxna parets passion till det fruktansvärda i våldtäkter.”The Guardian”Vackert skriven och till brädden fylld med liv, En halv gul sol är en enastående roman.”Joyce Carol Oates“Från första sidan skapas ett starkt band mellan läsaren och Ugwu… Adichie har lyckats skriva ett krävande och känsligt epos om ett fruktansvärt inbördeskrig…”Booklist Översättare: Joakim Sundström

En halv gul sol

Sara Raffalski

THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION ‘WINNER OF WINNERS’ Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, this is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpiece

An eye-opening and vivid historical novel. Only criticism is that the pacing and prose was a little flat in places. Maybe more POVs would be interesting. That said, a very powerful and moving story which showed me the history of the era. 

Luke Pearce

altlovesbooks

Okay, don't shoot me. I see a lot of people like this book and I totally get why! There's a lot to like here! The writing style is great, the depictions are vivid, and the author really knows how to paint a scene. I really felt like I got into the heads of the characters, their motives, and their feelings. The audiobook narrator was also really, really good.

But I just didn't find a lot here that I found interesting. The setting was unique, the culture fascinating, but I thought the start was really slow, and honestly I found the characters kind of boring. Ugwu was especially unlikeable to me. I don't know, I see why a lot of people like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Jamieson

“Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and, finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future.”


Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical fiction work following several characters through the years before, after and during the Biafran-Nigerian war. It's one of those books that is on every 'must read' and book club pick list, so I definitely had high expectations going into this. Especially since I've read some of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's other works and enjoyed them. 

This book started a little slow for me. It takes some time to introduce its characters and somehow it felt both overwhelming and slow to start. However, at about the 30% mark, or about 100 pages in, it really started to pick up. And then when it gets going it never stops. 

 I knew little about the politics or causes of the Biafran War before reading this. I was only really aware of the humanitarian impact. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been praised for her storytelling and I have to do it again. Because this book did an excellent job of rendering the landscape and situation, of painting characters for the story and incorporating the fiction elements within the history. I don't often read historical fiction, because often I just wish I'd read a non-fiction book on the event instead. But I'm really glad I read this. Because not only did it explain the story of the war, I loved how it explained the human story - looking at how it impacted people through the lens of our central characters. 

At first, I struggled with the main characters, finding them dull and flat. But I loved the way Adichie developed them at the story progressed. Stereotypes and caricatures played on at the start were slowly deconstructed, the change to the characters as the war progressed was stark and upsetting. I loved these characters by the end, which is why I found the final chapters so devastating (if you know, you know)


  "The world was silent when many died. But now it will have to listen, as the dead tell their story from beyond the grave."



Finally, a note must be made on Adichie's writing. I love it. Easy to read but also lyrical and poignant. I think she does an excellent job at capturing character through dialogue and writing, and the use of irony and subtle humour throughout was excellent. 

Half of a Yellow Sun reminds me I need to read both more historical fiction, and also more Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Maddie

Beautiful story with vivid characters experiencing heartbreaking loss

Emelie

Heartbreaking, illuminating, stark, sad and beautiful. I loved all the characters so much and felt so invested in their lives. One I want to read again. 

Alfredo santos

One of the best books I've read this year. 

The prose is witty, clear and elegant. The writer takes you through a deep character transformation without you even realizing it!

It is not an easy read since war, hunger, human rights violations are not for everyone but it's definately worth it. It gives you a front row seat to one of this century's worst tragedies.

Irene Alegre

This was a very long novel that could have been way shorter, and which I only finished because somehow I felt like I owed it to those who fought for Biafra back in the 60s, which I'll admit is a strange reason to finish a book.

The characters were quite flat, and I didn't care much for any of them expect for Kainene. 

I'm sad to say I don't get the hype around this book and I won't be recommending it.

This is the sweeping new novel from the author of Purple Hibiscus, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and winner of the Commonwealth Writer's Prize. Half a Yellow Sun is set in Nigeria in the 1960s, at the time of a vicious civil war in which a million people died, and thousands were massacred in cold blood. The three main characters in the novel get swept up in the violence during these turbulent years. One is a young boy from a poor village who is employed at a university lecturer's house. The other is a young middle-class woman, Olanna, who has to confront the reality of the massacre of her relatives. And the other is a white man, a writer who lives in Nigeria for no clear reason, and who falls in love with Olanna's sister, a remote and enigmatic character. As these people's lives intersect, they have to question their own responses to the unfolding political events. This extraordinary novel is about Africa in a wider sense: about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic and tribal allegiances, about class and race; and the ways in which love can complicate all of these things.

Yulande Lindsay

An absolutely wonderful book. Admittedly hard to read in parts as it dealt with the war and its impact on the people involved. There are books you read and become completely immersed in them. This was one of those books. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a gifted writer, her descriptive skills introduced me to a world I knew nothing about and yet felt I was there sharing the experiences of all the characters involved. I look forward to reading more of her writing in the future.

Vivian

This is a brilliant historical fiction that tells the story of 5 ordinary people in Nigeria before and during the time of Biafran war (1967-1970). I knew nothing about Nigeria and its history, so I appreciate voices like Adichie's to remind us of the forgotten tears and sufferings of people in history, and shed a light on various ethnic groups and tribes in Africa - it is a continent with 54 countries and more than 3000 tribes, so let's not talk about "Africa" as if it were a homogenous land with people of the same race who all speak "African".

This book also made me really want to visit Nigeria. 

4 stars instead of 5 because I do feel the characters are relatively one-dimensional, as if their existence were purely to move the story forward with no additional layers of complexity. For example I never understood the love between Olanna and Odenigbo, not sure what kind of person Richard really is. The story leaves me wanting more.

Josefina

3.5
so far this has been my favorite book by this author

priya

Is it just me, or are affairs the most boring thing to read about?

Half of a Yellow Sun is set during a time of political turmoil in Nigeria, where the eastern region of the country is created into a new nation called Biafra. I had absolutely no prior knowledge of this event, so I think reading an historical fiction would’ve helped me understand something about the Biafra War. Unfortunately, none of the characters engaged me. I felt all four of the perspectives simple existed, not even as stereotypes, but as quota-fillers. I really wanted to like this book, considering it’s so highly praised, but it ended up being a chore to get through. 

2.5 stars

quotes
“He felt grateful that she had pulled him into the conversation, included him, and he was charmed by that quality of hers that seemed both sophisticated and naive, an idealism that refused to be suffocated by gritty reality.”

“Olanna felt a sudden pity for him, for her mother, for herself and Kainene. She wanted to ask him why they were all strangers who shared the same last name.”

“Richard exhaled. It was like somebody sprinkling pepper on his wound: Thousands of Biafrans were dead, and this man wanted to know if there was anything new about one dead white man. Richard would write about this, the rule of Western journalism: One hundred dead black people equal one dead white person.”

Melody Izard

I can certainly recall the news reports of the Biafran refugee camps with their heartbreaking images of the skinny-limbed large bellied, huge eyed children of undetermined age. The pictures I conjure up from my memory always include flies buzzing over a tiny portion of a pasty-colored unappetizing looking bowlful of something. But I didn’t know anything else about Biafra other than I never heard of it anymore. 
Half of a Yellow Sun is a reference to the flag of Biafra, an independent nation that existed from 1967 - 1970. 


Nigeria didn’t care for the Igbo people but they sure wanted their oil so they decided to starve them into submission. They only allowed very small quantities of food to cross the borders and the army and the civilians suffered greatly. 
This is a story about family and love and loyalty and relationships during the Nigerian civil war.

Joy KBA

It was okay. I think this is not really my genre... But the little part of the history of Nigeria was interesting!

Half of a Yellow Sun

Reviews

Highlights