In 2007, about a year after its release, Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun won the Orange Prize for Fiction. A decade and four years later, I finally read the award-winning novel and wish I had read it sooner. It is worth every hype.
The novel whose title was apparently inspired by the Biafran flag tells the story of the Nigerian Civil War from the perspective of Ugwu, Olanna and Richard. The growing conflict between the Igbos and the Hausas culminates in the massacre of hundreds of Igbos residing in Northern Nigeria. The Igbos try to break away from Nigeria and to form a new republic, Biafra. Nigeria opposes the secession resulting in the outbreak of what is now known as The Nigerian Civil War. The heat of the war forces many Igbos to flee their comfortable homes to refugee camps. The Nigerian Government cut off all humanitarian aid to the Biafrans which results in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians from starvation and disease.
In this heart-rending story of love and war, Adichie weaves truth and fiction in her characteristic simple manner that not only informs but entertains the reader. The novel follows the lives of ordinary people, exposing the not-so-ordinary effects and aftereffects of war. An opinionated professor and revolutionary shrinks into a subdued drunk. An "illogically beautiful" and wealthy Olanna transitions to a struggling mother who queues (and fights) to collect miserly portions of dried egg yolk and flour for her family's sustenance. There are elements of well-sparsed humor within the novel that, while revealing the comfort and sense of normalcy that jokes offer, do not diminish the depressing tone of war.
If you are new to Historical Fiction and want to test the waters of that genre, then Half of a Yellow Sun is a book you should start with.
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By Nduka Victoria
