BOOK REVIEW

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Orange Prize.  For a chapter-by-chapter summary, go to Synopsis:  Half of a Yellow Sun.

(Brought to you by kat impatientreader.com)  Nigeria in the 1960s is a turbulent place, seething with tensions between the Hausa people who are Muslim and the Igbo who are Christian. This divide is further cemented by their different languages, and even their different appearances. Many in Nigeria resent the Igbo for having "infiltrated" the government, the military, and the merchant class.

Certainly beautiful Olanna comes from a prosperous Igbo family.  Her wealthy father owns so many successful businesses that he can afford to maintain his brittle and gorgeous wife in a mansion in cosmopolitan Lagos, and his mistress just down the street!  Olanna and her non-identical twin sister Kainene have been educated in England and have perfect British accents.  Kainene, who is plain and resentful, is poised to take over several of her father's businesses in Port Harcourt. Olanna, who is a creature of compassion and love, wants only to build a life with Odenigbo, a belligerent professor and revolutionary.

Half a Yellow Sun consists of three alternating third-person viewpoints:  Olanna; Richard, the handsome and timid white Englishman who is Kainene's lover; and Ugwu, the perceptive houseboy in the household of Olanna and Odenigbo.

The novel starts with Ugwu whose aunty takes him from his primitive village to the university town of Nsukka to live in Odenigbo's house, working as his houseboy.  Ugwu is a fascinating mixture of sharp intelligence, as he notices and draws perceptive conclusions from countless details about Odenigbo, and utter naiveté:  he has never experienced the magic of running water from a kitchen tap. He goes to sleep his first night with a chicken sandwich stuffed in his pocket to take home to his family in few weeks!

Odenigbo is a loud, thick-set man who loves to argue about African independence. He hosts nightly gatherings of intellectuals and revolutionaries in his Nsukka home.  Ugwu must serve them refreshments and nod respectfully at his master's opinions.  Still, it's not a bad life.  Odenigbo is conceited and lacking in empathy: sometimes he bullies Ugwu and sneers at his unsophisticated ways. But he also wants to develop his potential. When Olanna joins the household, Ugwu falls in love with her beauty and flawless English accent.

What on earth does Olanna see in Odenigbo? Well, the sex is really good.  Plus she finds his passionate commitment to black African independence intoxicating.  But she's a modern woman who refuses to marry him, and she keeps her own flat in Nsukka to which to retreat when he becomes too obnoxious.  It's a good thing, too, because his ferociously malevolent mother will soon visit with an elaborate scheme to break up her son and Olanna.  This subplot thrums with suspense as we view it through Ugwu's knowing, yet helpless, gaze.

In stark contrast to innocent Ugwu and warm-hearted Olanna, comes Richard's viewpoint. He is a handsome white Englishman who comes to Nigeria to research art and falls in love with the landscape and people. Poor Richard is insecure by nature, and it doesn't help to find himself a white man among black Africans, trying to reinvent himself as an African, too. 

It especially ties him into knots to meet the twin sisters at a party: he is attracted to Olanna, but fascinated by Kainene. He ends up with Kainene, never really sure if she returns his desperate love or if she's sleeping with other men – specifically Madu, a handsome and virile Igbo army officer. Meanwhile, he is living in Nsukka (commuting to Port Harcourt for weekend trysts with Kainene), and showing up at Odenigbo's house with the other intellectuals to talk and hang out. A dangerous spark of attraction continues to flicker between him and Olanna.

Soon the manipulative scheming of Odenigbo's mother will set into motion several vengeful acts that will wreak incalculable harm upon the inner circles of both Olanna and Kainene with whom Olanna secretly hopes to regain their childhood closeness.

However, even while our characters struggle with serious domestic problems, Nigeria itself is about to blow up in their faces. The Igbos attempt a coup upon the Hausas in government.  The Hausas retaliate with a sweeping massacre that starts in the north (where Olanna happens to be visiting her Igbo relatives).  Our characters' lives change forever as they witness the devastation of the Igbo refugees, fleeing atrocities and starvation.  The Igbo population is shattered to the core, but their desperation and lingering optimism leads them to retreat to eastern Nigeria where they hope to form the independent republic of Biafra.  Olanna and Odenigbo jump into the forefront of the revolution, and Ugwu must join them.

I first approached this novel with dread because the subject of civil war in Nigeria sounded like such a downer.  But I found the book a powerful, involving, and fast-paced read.  The characters are complex and admirable, even while making mistakes. The beauty and strangeness of Africa shines through the clear and sensual writing. Half a Yellow Sun (the title refers to the flag of Biafra) turned out to be unputdownable.  This not-to-be-missed experience is available on Amazon through this link: 

Half of a Yellow Sun

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