In some ways this is a very simple novel - and, indeed, to a fault in the more simplistic characterisation and depiction of the various markers of identity that are important (racial, cultural, tribal, class), in some of the 'telling' that goes on about the broader context of the Biafran secession, and in the straightforwardness of some of the symbolism.
But at the same time it would feel churlish to dwell on that when the book tells such a powerful story about a place and period - it's told in two sections each for 'the early 1960s' and 'the late 1960s' in Nigeria/Biafra - that I knew little about but very easily found myself in once Adichie got going (the colonial dimension that's front-and-centre from the beginning helps with that familiarisation), through the experience of a set of characters who, at the very least, never feel like cut-outs or merely symbolic or representative stand-ins. Kainene is my favourite character, and her relationship with her twin sister Olanna is one of the best things about the book; Ugwu's coming of age is a strong backbone too.
But at the same time it would feel churlish to dwell on that when the book tells such a powerful story about a place and period - it's told in two sections each for 'the early 1960s' and 'the late 1960s' in Nigeria/Biafra - that I knew little about but very easily found myself in once Adichie got going (the colonial dimension that's front-and-centre from the beginning helps with that familiarisation), through the experience of a set of characters who, at the very least, never feel like cut-outs or merely symbolic or representative stand-ins. Kainene is my favourite character, and her relationship with her twin sister Olanna is one of the best things about the book; Ugwu's coming of age is a strong backbone too.
