I hate reading fiction novels because most times the writer toil with the emotions of the reader with suspense, tragedy and grey endings. So my friends got my a Book by Chimamanda, Half of a Yellow sun. Of course before now, i have read several books on the rise and fall of the Biafran State, my favourite was Chinua Achebe "There was a country". For some reasons however, i avoided Half Of A Yellow Sun. until i got it as a gift and I could not close the book until i finished reading it
The author was very cruel, i asked myself if she ever took it into consideration that its humans with emotions who read the book and not robots. Of course i totally understand the tragedy of war stories but this is different.
In the book I shed tears when Kainene brought the news that Ugwu had died. It was much easier for me to deal with it -after all its one of many war sad tragedy tales- until i read the part that he survived and i felt thankful. Other characters that died like Eberechi, Okeoma felt normal to me even if i felt sad what made me really upset was how the book ended without writing what exactly happened to Kainene. I felt she was mean and not fair, at least the novel was filled with so many tragedy, an happy ending would not have been a bad idea or even if Kainene had die everyone would know exactly how the story ended and mourn her death or something. The pictures were so vivid that certain characters remained constant to me and Kainene was just like Olanna, Odenigbo, Richard and Ugwu. I think proper sending has to be written at least to satisfy my curiosity of what ever may have happened to Kainene.
Am aware lots of people got missing during the war in correlation with the vivid picture Chimamanda painted but why Kainene?
Anyway, This is such an evocative and poetic novel. The language, the story, the characters, the setting—this is nearly a perfect novel. I was truly engaged and greatly informed.

Felt the same way. The writer was brilliant. The novel kept me asking for more.