Half of a Yellow Sun

Set in Nigeria during the 1960s, Half of a Yellow Sun is a searing account of the Biafra War — one of the most tragic conflicts of the 20th century. Through the lives of three characters — Ugwu, a village boy who comes to work as a houseboy; Olanna, a wealthy Igbo woman who abandons her glamorous Lagos life; and Richard, a shy English expatriate — Adichie weaves together love, loss, and survival. Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, this is a profoundly moving novel about the human cost of war and the resilience of the African spirit.