Historical Fiction · HopefulUgwu, a village boy, goes to work for a radical professor in Nsukka as Nigeria heads toward civil war
Half of a Yellow Sun
A village boy, a radical professor and a privileged woman live through the Nigerian Civil War
Ugwu, a young village boy, starts working as a houseboy for Odenigbo, a radical mathematics professor in Nsukka. The professor's home becomes a gathering place for intellectuals. Olanna, a privileged woman, is in a relationship with Odenigbo. When civil war breaks out, the characters' lives are thrown into chaos. The novel covers the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970, moves non-chronologically in four parts that alternate between the early and late 1960s, and was made into a film in 2013.
More about this book
Who
Ugwu, a houseboy, Odenigbo, a radical mathematics professor, and Olanna, a privileged woman.
World
Nigeria in the 1960s, mainly Nsukka and later Umuahia, during the Nigerian Civil War.
What makes it different
Its four parts alternate between the early and late 1960s instead of running in order.
Feel
Moving and wide in scope.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- Half of a Yellow SunWikipedia