REVIEW: Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

Book: Half of a Yellow Sun

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Premise: Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege for her new lover. And Richard is a shy Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

[⚠️TW: rape, war, violence, beheadings, racism, infant fatalities]

I am ashamed to say that I didn't know anything about the civil war in Nigeria or what happened in Biafra. So this book was shocking for me. It's starts off slow in the early 60s, introducing the central characters, their lives and their relationships with each other.

The story jumps forward to the late 60s and the events leading up to the birth of Biafra. We see things escalate rapidly, with the characters hearing about and witnessing horrific events. Their relationships flips between strong and strained as they experience trauma.

I mirrored Richard's anger when the British/Western response was mentioned - the newspapers making sweeping stereotypes and the politicians ignoring the suffering. I know this was a different time, but I still feel ashamed.

An eye opening and gut wrenching read.