Although her novels focus on the past and how it affects the present, chimamanda has managed to create her stories, making them reach the younger generation and illuminating them in forgotten history through the lens of fiction.
Purple Hibiscus
‘Purple Hibiscus’ is a story of pain, love, freedom, and family. The novel takes its reader down in history to a young Nigeria plagued by economic instability and political insecurity. The novel’s main character, Kambili Achike, is a young 15-year-old girl whose abusive father, Eugene, terrorizes everyone, including Kambili’s brother, Jaja, and mother, Beatrice. Kambili’s devoutly catholic father subjects his wife to intensive abuse to the point she gets miscarriages from excessive domestic violence. With her family disintegrating, Kambili’s journey into maturity feels like a burden on her shoulders.
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rays of happiness shine over kambili as she and her brother move into her aunt’s house to spend some time. There, Kambili experiences a life of freedom and self-discovery. however, dark clouds form over kambili’s family when her mother poisons her father. eugene dies, and kambili’s brother, haha, takes the blame for his father’s death and is sent to prison. Unable to live with what he had done, Beatrice becomes psychologically unstable.
half of a yellow sun
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‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is a tale of history, pain, and the horrors of war. The story starts at the dawn of a new Nigeria free from colonialism. Ugwu, a young village boy, leaves his village for the throbbing city of Nnsuka, where he meets Odenigbo, a mathematic professor at the University of Nigeria. Ugwu begins working as a houseboy for Odenigbo.
odenigbo’s girlfriend, olanna, moves from lagos to nnsuka, where she lives with him. Soon, problems between Olanna and Odenigbo’s mother, Mama, escalate when Mama emphasizes her disapproval of Olanna befriending her son. A drunken Odenigbo sleeps with Amala, a girl her mother brought with her from the village. Learning of her affair, Olanna gets drunk and sleeps with Richard, a British expat, and Kainene, the mistress of Olanna’s twin sister.
a failed coup in nigeria fuels hatred of igbos in the north; this leads to an ethnic massacre causing the death of thousands of Igbos. With the killings, Colonel Ojukwu calls the Igbos back home and declares the eastern part of Nigeria a free state, calling it Biafra. nigeria declares war on biafra, forcing odenigbo to flee from nnsuka to umuahia. Soon, Odenigbo and his family find themselves in a refugee camp. olanna reunites with her twin sister kianene and richard.
ugwu is recruited into the biafran army, where he witnesses firsthand the horrors of war. Biafra loses the war and Ugwu reunites with Odenigbo, Olanna, Baby, Richard and Kainene. kainene disappears after crossing north to trade.
the thing around your neck
‘the thing around your neck’ is a collection of chimamanda stories. the book introduces the stories:
- ‘imitation’ is a story set in philadelphia. tells the story of a young mother, nkem, who discovers that her husband had a mistress at their house in lagos.
- ‘a private experience’ tells the story of two women of different religions caught up in an interreligious crisis .
- ‘ghosts’ tells the story of a retired college professor who reviews his life.
- ‘cell one’ is the story of a college professor’s spoiled son who is sent to prison and ends up in cell one.
- ‘the headstrong historian’ tells the story of a nwangba, a woman who believed her husband was killed by her cousins and fights to get her husband’s possessions back for her son .
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Other featured stories include ‘tomorrow is too far away’, ‘the marriage fixers’, ‘the chills’, ‘the US embassy’, ‘the thing around your neck’ and ‘last week Monday’.
americanah
‘americanah’ tells the story of two lovers, ifemelu and obinze, who are torn apart by the military dictatorship in nigeria. With Ifemelu heading to the United States and Obinze becoming an undocumented immigrant in the UK, their paths grow further apart. However, Obinze returns to Nigeria years later and becomes a successful businessman, while Ifemelu returns from the United States. they eventually meet and try to rekindle the flames of their love once more.
we should all be feminists
‘we should all be feminists’ is a book-length essay published in 2014. in the book, chimamanda discusses what it means to be a feminist. she explains how being a feminist did not mean making men inferior, but rather promoting women’s rights and creating equal opportunities for men and women.
chimamanda wrote many short stories, including “notes on mourning”, “verification”, “zikora”, “the arrangements: a work of fiction”, and “apollo”.
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