Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel has been voted the best book to win the Women’s Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history. The one-off prize, which was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the award, saw over 8000 readers vote for their favorite of the prize’s 25 winners. Adichie’s novel ace the likes of Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, the late Andrea Levy’s Small Island, Lionel Shriver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin to win the award.
Adichie, who won the prize in 2007 for her ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, was selected in a public vote from a list of 25 winners.
The one-time award marks the anniversary of the prize, previously called the Orange Prize and the Bailey’s Prize.
Half of a Yellow Sun novel is predicated on Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria during the Biafran Civil War. The book garnered global acclaim when it was published in 2006.
The novel features topics including the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, race, female empowerment and love, even as the novel was adapted into a film starring Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2013.
In her reaction to the win, Adichie said: “I’m especially moved to be voted Winner of Winners because this is the prize that first brought a wide readership to my work, and has also introduced me to the work of many talented writers”.
Since her win in 2007 at the age of 29, Adichie has become an international bestseller and her literary works which includes her 2013 novel, Americanah, and her 2014 essay, We Should All Be Feminists, continue to be read across the world. Her most recent book, Dear Ijeawele, Or A Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions, was published in 2017.
Most recently, it was announced that there would an adaptation of the Americanah novel into a mini-series for HBO, and which will star the likes of Lupita Nyongo’o, Zackary Momoh, and Uzo Abuda.
