Half of a yellow sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book tells the story of a lot of different people who are caught up in the Biafra Independence Movement of 1967 to 1970. War fiction is never easy to read. A lot of us have read fiction and seen films based on the American civil war or the  European civil wars. Chimamanda Adichie tells this other story, and the characters are human, and surviving. The characters include middle class twin sisters who follow different paths and the men who they like/love, a houseboy, assorted characters, soldiers, civil servants.

In this part of the world, Guyana had emerged from its own version of civil war.. all part of the colonial legacies where the British lumped everyone together to create nation states which ignored the demographics of the countries.
It would be interesting to see how Nollywood would deal with this book, and the conflict. The book is made interesting by the cultural references, for people who do not know about Igbo culture. The style is simple, short sentences, simple dialogue, no moral pronouncements on anything. The characters sometimes end up doing the unexpected, as in real life. It is worth a read and I look forward to reading her other books.
Adichie's Ted talk is also good for us in Guyana to listen to.