If you're struggling to get through the first 1/4 of this book, let me encourage you: It's actually about the Nigerian civil war and the secession of Biafra, and things start happening! Just keep going! I almost gave up before I got to the point where the revolution began, because almost 150 pages at the beginning are spent setting up the characters and describing Nigerian life in the early 1960s, and it's quite dull. There's very little plot movement. But I was encouraged to keep going because a friend was further along in the same book and really enjoying it, and I'm glad I did.

The title of Richard's book, "The World Was Silent When We Died," is apropos. As an American born after the events in the book, I knew nothing about this period of Nigerian history, and it serves as a reminder of the many tragedies playing out around the world, even today, about which we are unaware or uninterested. In the Afterword, the author includes a list of further reading on Biafra, into which I am now tempted to delve further. (Incidentally, did you know that the humanitarian crisis caused by the Nigerian blockade of Biafra was what spurred the creation of Doctors Without Borders?)

I read "Americanah" (by the same author) last year, and found this book much more compelling. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, and she does a wonderful job of conveying the experience of living through a civil war and of helping non-Nigerians understand the racial and tribal divisions among the populations, and the effect of British colonialism, that led to the conflict. The characters are sympathetic and realistic, and I loved watching them change as national events put them into situations they never anticipated, and throws the concerns of their prior lives into perspective. Be sure and read the brief Afterword, which explains the author's personal connection to the real-world events.