Adichie’s Second

One of the fall 2006 books I was most excited about is Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun. Set in the 1960s, during the aborted attempt to set up an independent state in Biafra, the book tells the story of three characters whose loyalties to their ideas, ideals, and one another, are tested. There’s thirteen-year-old Ugwu, a houseboy for a university professor, Olanna, the professor’s mistress; and Richard, an Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s twin sister. You can read some of the early (and mostly excellent) reviews of the book: Janet Maslin in the New York Times, Martin Rubin in the San Francisco Chronicle, Merle Rubin in the L.A. Times.

Some related links:
Adichie’s website.
Debbie Elliot’s interview with Adichie on NPR.
Adichie writes about the books that have influenced her in the Guardian.