Half of a Yellow Sun

By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Narrated by: Zainab Jah

Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A haunting story of love and war from the best-selling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists.

With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a 13-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene. Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.

©2017 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"This prize-winning author's place in literary history is secured with [ Half of a Yellow Sun], a tribute to her people, the Igbo, who after being massacred in 1966 broke away from Nigeria to create the Republic of Biafra. [But] this novel is not a standard war account: Though we are not sheltered from its horrors, Adichie excels in the way she tells about war.... Her characters' strengths are in their complexity and their flaws.... Throughout the story, Adichie insists on accountability and then forgiveness as the only option for redemption.... By the end, after breaking our hearts, she uses her last sentence to blindside us with a gift. We never see it coming. With it, she offers hope in the future." (Marie-Elena John, Black Issues)

"[It's] hard not to place Adichie alongside a new generation of post-postcolonial writers who, while paying due respect to Achebe (and, for that matter, Kincaid, Naipaul, Gordimer, and Coetzee), are moving beyond them on their own terms.... Adichie's nuanced prose takes great pains to undo the reductive attitudes many in the West harbor toward African people.... And yet Adichie does not rant against the West.... [Criticism] and compassion coexist. She understands that it takes many hands to shape war.... For Adichie, pain unifies us, and it's often that same pain that keeps us from recognizing that unity.... Adichie's novel [has], a narrative humility coupled with an epic ambition.... Are there any easy answers in [ Half of a Yellow Sun]? Certainly not. But Adichie, in the process, asks the hell out of her questions, rendering them in all their haunting, beautiful silence." (Stephen Narains, Harvard Book Review)

Good book, sad ending

I didn't know anything about the Nigerian civil war or even that they had one before this book. I didn't realize what kind of story I was getting myself into. I come away with learning about some history. But the last few chapters left me feeling depressed :( I didn't enjoy that aspect, and rarely do I come across a book with a sad ending. I gave 4 stars for the depressing ending. The book was well written. I was throughly engaged and immersed in the story with the characters, I could feel myself being there in the scenes and feeling my emotions as if I were there.

Good book but skip the audio

Good book but better as a physical copy than on audio. I usually listen to audiobooks while I multitask but this book required more focus imo so I think it would’ve been better to read a hard copy.

Brilliant

I was transformed and transcended into Biafra. I now understand my Igbo brothers and sisters. Thank you ❤️

The rising sun shall rise someday

Beautifully written and beautifully read. Thank you so much I truly appreciate the time and effort you put in the story, it was all worth it.

The hype is true

Adored the story and the storyteller. This is a story about resilience and the importance of preserving ancient cultures and traditions.

Love💛

I have read all of Chimamanda Adichie's books, this one made me feel every emotion known to man. Brilliantly performed and written. I feel so connected to her characters.

wonderful, educational narrative

both the author and the narrator have true gifts for story telling. I particularly liked learning about a civil war and country I had never heard of before. I feel inspired to educate myself much more!

Very good

A very well told
story of civil war and Biafra and Nigeria and mostly of love. Incredible narration

Enlightening

I am an African American woman with a determination to learn about other cultures

Absolutely Breathtaking!

This book made me so happy that I actually have a subscription to audible. The writing by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is phenomenal. There is no comparison implied in this statement but she in the league and level of Toni Morrison in her ability to craft and weave a story full of rich and tangible characters. The narration by Zainab Jah transported me and gave me the feeling I had long since forgotten from childhood when I first learned the power of books to propel you into another world. The personification and acting out of the characters through the solitary use of her voice added such a depth and richness to the story where I felt as though the characters were a part of my life. I actually dreamed about them in a way that I hadn’t dreamed about character from books since I was young. If you are on the fence, get off this is a must have, a must read, a must listen!