Half of a Yellow Sun and over 2 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more

Buy New

Quantity:

Buy Used

Used - Very Good See details

Price: �2.77

Fulfilled by Amazon

More Buying Choices

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Sorry, this item is not available in

Image not available for
Colour:

Image not available

Share your own customer images

Search inside this book

Start reading Half of a Yellow Sun on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Half of a Yellow Sun [Paperback]

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Author)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (243 customer reviews)

RRP:	�8.99
Price:	�6.47 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Deal Price:
You Save:	�2.52 (28%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

Want it tomorrow, 2 Sept.? Choose Express delivery at checkout. Details

	Amazon Price		New from	Used from
Kindle Edition	�3.99		--	--
Hardcover, Special Edition	--		--	--
Show # more hardcovers
Show fewer hardcovers
Paperback	�6.47		--	--
Show # more paperbacks
Show fewer paperbacks
Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook, CD	--		--	--
Show # more audio books
Show fewer audio books
Audio Download, Abridged	�10.40	or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your unwanted old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card? This offer is available on thousands of titles--visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more.

› See more product promotions

Book Description

Publication Date: 15 Jan 2007

In 1960s Nigeria, a country blighted by civil war, three lives intersect.

Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. And Richard, a shy English writer, is in thrall to Olanna’s enigmatic twin sister. As the horrific Biafran War engulfs them, they are thrown together and pulled apart in ways they had never imagined.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, is a novel about Africa in a wider sense: about the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class and race – and about the ways in which love can complicate all of these things.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; }

In 1960s Nigeria, a country blighted by civil war, three lives intersect.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Watch the author talk about this book in Windows Media Player format: dial-up | broadband.

Frequently Bought Together

Price For All Three: �19.05

Show availability and delivery details

Buy the selected items together

This item: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Paperback �6.47
Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Paperback �6.29
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Paperback �6.29

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Purple Hibiscus (P.S.)
› Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi…

4.5 out of 5 stars (115)

Paperback

�6.29
The Thing Around Your Neck
› Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi…

4.2 out of 5 stars (99)

Paperback

�6.29
Americanah
› Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi…

4.4 out of 5 stars (85)

Hardcover

�13.20
Things Fall Apart (Penguin Classics)
› Chinua Achebe

4.4 out of 5 stars (129)

Paperback

�6.29
An Introduction to Modern European History, …
› Alan Farmer

4.0 out of 5 stars (1)

Paperback

�19.46
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives
› Lola Shoneyin

4.5 out of 5 stars (53)

Paperback

�5.75

Product details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st Harper Perennial Edition edition (15 Jan 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007200285
ISBN-13: 978-0007200283
Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 19.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (243 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #97 in Books > Fiction > Literary Fiction
- #97 in Books > Fiction > Women Writers & Fiction > Women's Literary Fiction

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Page

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

'Vividly written, thrumming with life…a remarkable novel. In its compassionate intelligence as in its capacity for intimate portraiture, this novel is a worthy successor to such twentieth-century classics as Chinua Achebe's “Things Fall Apart” and V. S. Naipaul's “A Bend in the River”.' Joyce Carol Oates

'Here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers.’ Chinua Achebe

'I look with awe and envy at this young woman from Africa who is recording the history of her country. She is fortunate – and we, her readers, are even luckier.' Edmund White

'Absolutely awesome. One of the best books I've ever read.' Judy Finnigan

'[Deserves] a place alongside such works as Pat Barker's “Regeneration” trilogy and Helen Dunmore's depiction of the Leningrad blockade, “The Siege”.' Guardian

About the Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. Her first novel, ‘Purple Hibiscus’ (2003), was longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her second novel, ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (2007), won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her short story collection, ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’, was published to critical acclaim in 2009. Her work has been selected by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and the BBC Short Story Awards and has appeared in various literary publications, including ‘Granta’, ‘Zoetrope’ and ‘The Iowa Review’. She lives in Nigeria.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Hardcover
4.4 out of 5 stars (85)

�13.20

Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Paperback
4.5 out of 5 stars (115)

�6.29

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Hardcover
4.2 out of 5 stars (634)

�9.00

The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman Paperback
4.6 out of 5 stars (430)

�3.85

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars

4.4 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

150 of 156 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping plot, powerful themes, excellent... 25 Sep 2006

By A. Stephens

Format:Hardcover

`Half of A Yellow Sun' confirms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as one of my favourite authors. Following up a very successful first novel is always difficult but this is exceptional writing.

While tackling a difficult subject, the lead up to and the course of Nigeria's Biafra War in the 1960's, it is told in a very readable and accessible way. The events unfold through the eyes of three central characters who are swept along in the chaos of civil war. There is Ugwu, the houseboy of a university lecturer; Olanna, the lecturer's partner; and Richard, an English journalist who lives with Olanna's twin sister. They are forced together and separated in unexpected ways throughout the war, each witnessing events that affect them deeply.

Interwoven in the main plot are other important themes, the necessity (for the innocent people displaced by war) and ineffectiveness (through corruption and misappropriation) of emergency relief aid; the use of child soldiers and horrors they are forced to endure; how the West perceives Africa (a good example being the situation when two American reporters are more interested in the death of one white journalist than one thousand local, black civilians); how religion, tribal loyalties and the political elite can tear a country apart; and how many of these factors can be traced back to the impact that colonialism had on the country. There are significant lessons that can be drawn from this novel, particularly with regards to how the world is dealing with the current crisis in Darfur, for example.

The structure of the novel worked well, creating intrigue and suspense throughout. It was gripping from start to finish but the tension that built in the final section meant it had to be read in one session - there was no way it could be put down. Read more ›

3 Comments |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable & Fascinating: I saw, heard and felt it. 10 Nov 2006

By missp85

Format:Hardcover

After Purple Hibiscus, I was not in a hurry to read the next offering from Chimamanda. The first novel, praised by critics, other authors and many of the other reviewers on this page, left me feeling very dissatisfied. I found it unecessarily slow and was of the opinion that the author fell into the "ethnic" trap that is the downfall of many young African writers.

Half of a Yellow Sun was simply fantastic. It was (and forgive the cheese), a JOY to read. I have tried, and failed, to read many a book on the Nigerian Civil War. Its a part of my country's history that I feel is poorly documented and is glossed over by many Nigerians, the bulk of whom understandably still bear very painful memories of its brutality and futility.

Chimamanda's novel is so fantastic because her characters are astoundingly real. I read it at lightening speed whilst managing to savour every scene and twist in my mind, to the extent that I can still recall every event in the book and am anxiously waiting for my friends and family to read it, as I am desperate to discuss it with others who can, and will, appreciate its genius.

I saw every scene, heard every sound and felt every emotion as the story unfolded before me. I was consumed by this novel, by its fascinating plot and personalities, and by the vast array of themes it encompassed: The relationships between Olanna and Odenigbo; Olanna and Kainene; Kainene and Richard; Odenigbo and his group of intellectuals, Ugwu's loyalty and his later dabble with base brutality, the ease with which life was lived before the war, the fear, panic and inhumane responses that ensued amongst both the rich and the poor, the wartime propaganda, the inaction of the international community and the sheer surrealness of it all. Read more ›

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars History is people 11 Feb 2007

By Friederike Knabe

Format:Hardcover

Most of us will have little knowledge of the Biafra war, except, possibly, for the media's haunting images of starving children. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie brings her people's world to us in this beautifully crafted, deeply moving, novel. Set in Nigeria during the 1960s, the narrative alternates between the optimistic early years of the decade and the civil war period at the end of it. With her extraordinary storytelling skill, Adichie draws the reader into an absorbing account of fictionalized realities that is impossible to put down - or to forget after the last page is read. With this, her second novel, she confirms her international reputation, established first with Purple Hibiscus, as one of the leading new voices of African literature.

While the war for Biafra's independence, born out of highly complex Nigerian and international political circumstances, provides the essential context for the novel, Adichie's focus is on the personal and private, the struggle of the civilian Igbo population. Her depiction of the horrors of war, the starvation and destruction is realistic. Yet she does not allow these scenes to take over and succeeds in not overwhelming the reader with them. By concentrating on one family and its close circle of friends and neighbours, Adichie creates an intimate portrait of these people's lives during both these critical periods. She paints her characters and their ongoing interactions against the panoramic view of events and environments that influence their lives and challenges their peace and even their existence.

Central to her story are the twin sisters, Olanna and Kainene, from a wealthy middleclass Igbo family. The beautiful Olanna leaves Lagos for a university environment to be with her political firebrand lover, the math professor Odenigbo. Read more ›

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

› See all 243 customer reviews (newest first) on Amazon.co.uk

Write a customer review

Would you like to see more reviews about this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 210 reviews 4.6 out of 5 stars

Were these reviews helpful? Let us know

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read

Well crafted story that brought a deeper understanding to those unforgettable images of starving African babies that haunted my childhood.

Published 5 hours ago by JayG.asks

5.0 out of 5 stars Provoking & Evoking

A very thought provoking book. So deep what's in there ! Taught me about a war i was clueless that happened in Nigeria. I couldn't believeee the ending ! Read more

Published 4 days ago by T.O

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing

This book is so amazing. The detail in the book made the characters and events come to life. It does take a bit to get into the book initially ; what with so many different... Read more

Published 8 days ago by Prissymissy8

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read

Takes a little bit of effort to get into the story but once you have it, you are gripped! Fantastic read.

Published 12 days ago by GASSM

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book

Another wounderfulllllll book from a fantastic author. Her books turned me into a reader. Very emotional but yet beautiful characters shown in a very difficult time the story also... Read more

Published 15 days ago by phyllis

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating

I started and could not drop the book. Taught me a lot about the history of my country. A history that I wish I was taught in school, made me realize how little I know of my... Read more

Published 28 days ago by Ela

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping

This is one book that I will be reading again and again. It literally sucks you into SouthEast Nigeria. Her humanization of the Biafran war makes it that much more intense. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Deedoc

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard going at first but worth the journey

This is not a quick holiday read. At first I felt confused by so many characters and a bit intimidated by the length of the book. Read more

Published 1 month ago by lizzyorks

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, made a lasting impression

This book came up in my reading group. I was not expecting to like it, but as I started reading, I could not put it down.

Published 1 month ago by Anna

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrible War

The title comes from the flag of Biafra, a short-lived country that starved to death in an appalling civil war in the 1960s. Read more

Published 1 month ago by gerardpeter

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }