TITLE: HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
AUTHOR: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
DATE PUBLISHED: 2006
DATE READ: November 2007
NOTES: What a wonderful book! The compelling story of the Biafran War is told through the intersecting lives of people in the country – Olanna and Kainene, feisty twin sisters from a privileged background, Richard, an Englishman who grows to love Africa (and Kainene) and Ugwu, the bright, vulnerable houseboy of Olanna. There are many other strong characters who make the sad story of civil conflict come alive.
The roots of the war are explained through the narrative. Adichie doesn’t lecture us but lets the history be explained via her characters which is much more effective. She brilliantly describes the excitement and optimism of the Biafrans as independence was declared and charts the inexorable decline into civil war, chaos and hunger. Much of the book is harrowing but the warmth and strength of the main characters and their will to survive shine through. A compassionate and humane book.
AUTHOR: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
DATE PUBLISHED: 2006
DATE READ: November 2007
NOTES: What a wonderful book! The compelling story of the Biafran War is told through the intersecting lives of people in the country – Olanna and Kainene, feisty twin sisters from a privileged background, Richard, an Englishman who grows to love Africa (and Kainene) and Ugwu, the bright, vulnerable houseboy of Olanna. There are many other strong characters who make the sad story of civil conflict come alive.
The roots of the war are explained through the narrative. Adichie doesn’t lecture us but lets the history be explained via her characters which is much more effective. She brilliantly describes the excitement and optimism of the Biafrans as independence was declared and charts the inexorable decline into civil war, chaos and hunger. Much of the book is harrowing but the warmth and strength of the main characters and their will to survive shine through. A compassionate and humane book.
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