The book-packing journey reaches Nigeria, in
the early sixties, a time of post-colonial optimism and promise for the lead
characters in this novel – two Nigerians and an Englishman who has made the
country his home.
Ugwu has just landed a plum job as houseboy to
Odenigbo, an academic at the regional university, and sees it as a great
opportunity to make his way in the world. In and out of the house is the
beautiful Olanna, Odenigbo’s girlfriend; she comes from a wealthy and
well-connected family who think she is slumming it with a lecturer when there
are richer suitors available. Richard Churchill is a would-be writer obsessed
with the ethnic artefacts of the country, who finds himself at odds with the
ex-pat community he has landed in.
That social sphere overlaps the Nigerian
elite, which is how he meets and falls for Kainene. Olanna’s non-identical but
equally striking twin sister. Ugwu is not without love interest too, as he
reaches adolescence and dabbles with the local servant girls while holding a
torch for an old friend in the village. All in all, things are looking good for
the trio, and any wobbles are of their own making.
But ethnic and religious divides in the new
republic cause tension, envy, suspicion and eventually violent revolt, civil
war and the secession of East Nigeria. That is where Ugwu, Olanna and Richard
live, and they soon take up roles in the newly declared state of Biafra, flying
its flag featuring the eponymous half a yellow sun.
We know how that ends; not well for Biafra.
For the likes of Ugwu, Olanna and Richard the initial inconveniences and
shortages soon give way to life changing events, brought vividly to life by the
author (Adichie drawing on her family history).
The characters are well drawn, there is
investment in the well-being of the trio, and the setting convinces as
authentic, which all makes for a compulsive page-turning read.
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