Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun has been voted best book to have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history, BBC reports
The renowned author who won the prize in 2007, was chosen in a public vote from a list of all 25 winners.
Other past winners include Zadie Smith, the late Andrea Levy, Lionel Shriver, Rose Tremain and Maggie O’Farrell.
The one-off award marks the anniversary of the prize, formerly known as the Orange Prize and the Bailey’s Prize.
Half of a Yellow Sun published in 2006, has received critical accliam globally and was adapted into a film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton in 2013.
Adichie, in response to the honour 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.”
She has received a silver edition of the prize’s annual statuette, known as the Bessie. Author and playwright Kate Mosse, the founder and director of the UK-based prize, congratulated Adichie and said she was “thrilled” Half of a Yellow Sun had won.
“Our aim has always been to promote and celebrate the classics of tomorrow today and to build a library of exceptional, diverse, outstanding international fiction written by women,” she said
“The Reading Women campaign has been the perfect way to introduce a new generation of readers to the brilliance of all of our 25 winners and to honour the phenomenal quality and range of women’s writing from all over the world.”
