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A review by halfmanhalfbook
Half of a Yellow Sun / Americanah / Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3.0
Ifemelu is a Nigerian who when offered an opportunity to move to America takes it, and moves in with her Aunt. She struggles to find any work at all at first, but she is tenacious enough to keep trying until she establishes herself.
Her boyfriend in Nigeria, Obinze, tries hid luck in the UK> he has to work using someone else's Ni number, and has a opportunity to marry someone to become a resident, by he is caught and deported by the authorities to Nigeria.
Ifemelu starts to live the life of the American, she has a white lover, her career is on the rise and she feels happy with her lot. A fling with a neighbour means that she splits with Curt, but soon finds Blaine, and joins the immigrant set. She begins a blog on race and racial comments and slower gains a wider following, and is made a fellow at Princeton. At this career peak she makes the decision to move back to Nigeria. When she returns she finds that Obinze is married with a daughter, and they rekindle their old love.
Adichie has written a modern story centred around three themes, love, immigration and race.
The love part is fairly standard, boy a girl fall in love, separate and after a period of time reconnect with each other causing friction with existing partners.
The immigration parts show just how tough it is coming to another country, finding work, staying in work, and trying to settle and make a home. She highlights how difficult this is in the UK and America with Obinze and Ifemelu's stories of their struggle and their success and failure to do so.
The final theme of the book is race. Through Ifemelu's blog, Adichie shows that there is still a strong undercurrent of covert racism there, and there is a a hierarchy of skin colour, and that defines your place in society, Princeton fellowship or not.
It is beautifully written, as was her other book that I have read. She has a way of being able to make these difficult themes accessible to a wider audience.
Her boyfriend in Nigeria, Obinze, tries hid luck in the UK> he has to work using someone else's Ni number, and has a opportunity to marry someone to become a resident, by he is caught and deported by the authorities to Nigeria.
Ifemelu starts to live the life of the American, she has a white lover, her career is on the rise and she feels happy with her lot. A fling with a neighbour means that she splits with Curt, but soon finds Blaine, and joins the immigrant set. She begins a blog on race and racial comments and slower gains a wider following, and is made a fellow at Princeton. At this career peak she makes the decision to move back to Nigeria. When she returns she finds that Obinze is married with a daughter, and they rekindle their old love.
Adichie has written a modern story centred around three themes, love, immigration and race.
The love part is fairly standard, boy a girl fall in love, separate and after a period of time reconnect with each other causing friction with existing partners.
The immigration parts show just how tough it is coming to another country, finding work, staying in work, and trying to settle and make a home. She highlights how difficult this is in the UK and America with Obinze and Ifemelu's stories of their struggle and their success and failure to do so.
The final theme of the book is race. Through Ifemelu's blog, Adichie shows that there is still a strong undercurrent of covert racism there, and there is a a hierarchy of skin colour, and that defines your place in society, Princeton fellowship or not.
It is beautifully written, as was her other book that I have read. She has a way of being able to make these difficult themes accessible to a wider audience.