Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a writer from Abba, southeastern Nigeria, has lived in the United States for more than twenty years. She is the author of several novels: Purple Hibiscus (2003) (Commonwealth Writers’ Prize), The other half of the sun (2006) on the Biafra war, (Orange Prize for Fiction), Americanathe journey of a young Nigerian woman who emigrated to the United States, and several collections including We are all feministss, published by Gallimard. (Replay)
“ How to say goodbye to a loved one when the whole world is hit by a health crisis, the deceased is laid to rest in Nigeria and his children are stranded in England and the United States ? Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s father has just died. Separated from her loved ones, the latter lives an impeded and solitary mourning. She then writes in the form of short chapters, composed like convulsions of grief and rage, where the love and admiration she had for her father explode on each page.
James Nwoye Adichie has gone through several eras in Nigerian history. If he transmitted the Igbo culture and language to his children, essential to the work of the author, he also spoke out against certain traditions of his country. By sharing simple and touching family anecdotes, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays tribute to the professor emeritus of the University of Nigeria, but above all to the humble and affectionate father that he was, his “original daddounet”.
Loss is thus transcended by love and transmission. » (Presentation of Gallimard editions)