A. Stephens

"Americanah" - A story of love & identity across three continents..., 13 April 2013

I have waited a long time for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's third novel and wasn't disappointed. It is quite different from from her first two novels but brilliant in its own way.

It is almost like a modern day 'Love in the Time of Cholera', a love story between Ifemelu and Obinze starting in high school, then on hold as they end up in the US and UK respectively, and ending back in Nigeria. The way that race and identity is dealt with in the novel is fascinating and the issues weave in and out of the story line. Speaking of weaving, there's a lot of talk about hair too.

There is even a reference to horse meat being used in burgers near the end (coincidence?) which made me… Read more

Wish I'd stopped after Books 1 & 2..., 23 May 2012

Hugely repetitive, Book 3 of 1Q84 should have been condensed down into a few chapters and tacked on to the end of the first two books. Nothing really happens for the first half, then it resolves slowly in a fairly predictable manner but leaving many questions unresolved.

Overall, I felt it was trying too hard to be a lengthy 'classic'...

Gripping plot, powerful themes, excellent..., 25 Sep 2006

`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,… Read more