Half of a Yellow Sun
By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 433 pages | Published: 2006 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, africa, nigeria, book-club | Search "Half of a Yellow Sun"
A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,” Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.
With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.
Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.
This book has been suggested 12 times
99593 books suggested | I don't feel so good.. | Source
I recently went back to this genius after 6 years and would love to explore similar books. I have read most of Khaled Hosseini's works - would really appreciate suggestions about works by other authors too.
level 2
Will definitely look for this. Thanks!
level 1
The Pearl That Broke It’s Shell - Nadia Hashimi
level 2
Thanks a lot! Will definitely look into it.
level 2
Thank you so much! I will go through this.
level 1
The Mountains Sing - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. It’s based around the Vietnam War so different setting but definitely some similarities with A Thousand Splendid Suns
level 2
Much appreciated, thank you!
About Community
Need an idea what to read next? Tell us what you've enjoyed in the past, or what you're looking for, and let the community suggest a book (or books) for you to read!
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
By: John Boyne | 240 pages | Published: 2006 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, young-adult, historical, books-i-own
This book has been suggested 2 times
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell
By: Nadia Hashimi | 452 pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, book-club, afghanistan, kindle
This book has been suggested 6 times
The Golden Son
By: Shilpi Somaya Gowda | 413 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: fiction, book-club, india, contemporary, books-i-own
This book has been suggested 1 time
28129 books suggested | I don't feel so good.. | Source
This is for my mother who isn't aware of the wonders of Reddit. She wants to get back into regular reading and hence wants books that are similar to the one mentioned above (which she thoroughly enjoyed ). I am not entirely sure what that means cuz I haven't read this book, so I can't give you a broad genre to recommend as such. But I'm sure the community will have people who can help me and my mum out.
TIA
And the Mountain Echoed by: Khaled Hosseini is a great place to start for her. The next book he wrote and I think it's his most beautiful. Maybe try A Visit from the Goon Squad by: Jennifer Egan, or The Nix by: Nathan Hill, or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by: Michael Chabon, or Reservation Blues by: Sherman Alexie, or The Remains of the Day by: Kazuo Ishiguro, or All the Light that We Cannot See by: Anthony Doerr, or The Glass Hotel by: Emily St. John Mandel. All great modern literary fiction. Hope that helps!