Half of A Yellow Sun

When I started reading Half of a Yellow Sun, I did not expect to be utterly captivated by one of the characters in the book, but I suppose that is what makes some books just that good. I was fascinated by Ogwu and his narrative role, finding it even more compelling than Olanna, perhaps because Ogwu is the village boy that you do not anticipate becoming, of all things, an author/writer.

Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical fiction novel about the Biafran war, a war I had known so little about until I read this book. Of course, now I am challenged to read and learn a little more about it. It is a story of love gone wrong and then right, and then wrong – but who gets to decide what is wrong or right, and for whom? It is a story that questions the power in superpower – does what happens on the ground matter, or shall we feed their primitive views of the “dark continent”? The powerful huff and puff, and pour paraffin on small fires, but ultimately never caring who the fire burns in the end.

In the novel, when the war intensifies, families come undone, friendships are tested, life is inevitably lost, and as with all wars, it is hard to come away feeling like there was a winner. But as we say in Africa, life goes on. The book had me thinking about the role of the media during war, and how to this day, media [and now including social media] is still at the forefront of propaganda.

History has shown us that war is costly – in every sense of the word, and yet, looking at pockets of our world in 2022, it appears nothing in the history of war will deter a warmonger.

Chimamanda's craft is impeccable; I enjoyed the threads of culture, love, freedom, loss, and tragedy, undercurrents of strained family relations, and among other things, the power of money. I appreciated the three narrative voices of Ogwu, Olanna, and Richard, whom I got to see as – the real people who pay the price, the elite, and the Western powers, respectively.

Highly recommended read.