Half Of A Yellow Sun

Biafran army during the 1967 war

Half - or full marks?

Sometimes hard to read - but isit an essential read? Join the Half Of A Yellow Sun debate.

Things Fall Apart

A reaction to the depictions of Africans in novels by Conrad and others, get to know Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

My Life In Kenya

As the second of our Africa Lives book, this month we turn our attention to Out Of Africa.

Stephanie Forward introduces the themes of the book club choice for December 2008, Half of a Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. It takes its title from the Biafran emblem: a sun midway through rising.

The story moves between sections set in the early 1960s and the period of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-1970). The focus is on five main characters: Odenigbo, a university lecturer; his lover, Olanna; their houseboy, Ugwu; Olanna’s twin sister, Kainene, and her white English boyfriend, Richard Churchill.

Their peaceful and prosperous lifestyle is shattered by the conflict and reshaped by hardship and deprivation. Adichie conveys the horror and violence of the civil war, particularly in terms of its impact upon civilians.

Scenes describing massacres, rapes, famine and disease make painful reading; however, the characters gradually learn to appreciate what really matters in life.

The book raises disturbing questions about moral responsibility, colonialism, class and ethnic divisions, belonging and exclusion, love and betrayal. Richard is receptive to the achievements of pre-colonial African societies, and desperately wants to ‘belong’ in Kainene’s culture. He considers writing a history of the conflict; but another question is posed: is the story his to tell?

One key theme concerns forgiveness and reconciliation. This has a resonance for the nation; the two sisters also have to resolve problems on a personal level, and Ugwu will ultimately struggle with his conscience.

Adichie has said: ‘If there’s such a thing as an anti-war book, this is it, but it must succeed primarily as a work of art.’ Does she succeed? Share your views on the forum.