Speaking about completing Half of a Yellow Sun in her little studio apartment, Adichie said:
“It was so emotionally draining. I cried… Days would pass and I wouldn’t shower. I wouldn’t pick up my phone.”
According to her, Half of a Yellow Sun was the book she felt her “ancestors wanted [her] to write”. So, after she had completed it, she felt free to loosen up as a writer; a decision she thought her third book, Americanah, would suffer for.
About her state of mind while writing Americanah, Adichie continued:
“I was no longer feeling this sense of being the dutiful daughter of literature and that I wanted to follow the rules. You know what? I felt I had earned the right to write a terrible book.”
Well, she didn’t end up writing that terrible book she expected — instead, she created her most successful work yet, which she describes as her “fuck you” book. You can read a little excerpt from the interview, which is set to drop on April 19, right here.
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