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'A beautiful and often harrowing story.' Observer Books of the Year 'A sensitive and touching story of a child exposed too early to religious intolerance and the uglier side of the Nigerian state.' J. M. Coetzee 'Political brutality and domestic violence, religion and witchcraft all merge with subtle force in this memorable novel. Chimammanda Ngozi Adichie uses childhood innocence to write Nigerian history with the eye of a family insider.' Hugo Hamilton 'Purple Hibiscus is the best debut I've read since Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.' Jason Cowley, Times journalist, literary editor of the New Statesman 'This debut ensnares the reader from the first page and lingers in the memory!in soft, searing voice, Adichie examines the complexities of family, faith and country through the haunted but hopeful eyes of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood.' Publishers Weekly
Guardian
`Adjoa Andoh's characterisation of the narrator, whose confused love/hate relationship with her father underpins the story, is stunning.'
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First Sentence
Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the etagere. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the etagere. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning 5* read!,
By
This review is from: Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) (Paperback)
I picked this book up intending to read a few pages in just to see what I thought and actually hardly put it down again until I had finished it.It is a fantastic insight into life in Nigeria in unsettled political times with the overarching conflict of the Catholic religion versus indigenous faiths almost subsuming everything else. Kambili and Jaja's father is a prosperous and generous Catholic businessman respected and revered in the wider community for his support of charities yet behind closed doors he is a despotic, controlling and ultimately extremely violent man. Helpless and seemingly powerless, the family can do nothing but tolerate Papa's violence which despite it's brutality still does nothing to affect their love for him until finally and very unexpectedly the power does shift.Adichie creates the family who have everything yet have nothing and then contrasts them powerfully with another branch of the family who seemingly have nothing yet have it all and it works. She delineates fear superbly;the reader really feels and lives what this family are going through.There is a wonderful intermingling of local dialect within the narrative that grounds this book very firmly in Nigeria and much of the beauty and hardship of the country is clearly described in a flowing and atmospheric style. Despite the stomach-churning physical abuse that almost moves you to tears for many reasons ,I found this an ultimately very satisfying read.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Electrifying read,
By Sitizi (Raleigh, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) (Paperback)
Purple Hibiscus is a beautiful story. The plot is based on a 14 year-old who grew up under the stifling patronage of a stern father. Her domineering father frequently physically abused his family alongside her, creating terror at home and stunting the psychological growth of his children. Against the backdrop of the deterioration of the socio-economic and political life of Nigeria as it undergoes a military coup, the life Kambili knows is shattered and she has to seek for refuge in the home of her aunt. Kambili the sheltered but highly restricted child, who never thought of herself as lucky and who had earlier been absconded by her peers and cousin because of her supposedly privileges, learns to assert herself and becomes a beloved character, a character who easily understood the plight of those around her.. Kambili at first came to terms with her father as someone who regarded himself as a pillar of the community and someone she genuinely loved. Even the emotional and physical pains he inflicted are seen only as a gesture of love for her own good, but later she comes to consider his actions as abnormal. With its vivid portrayal of Nigerian life, and brilliant dissection of the characters , this novel moves at a pace which is electrifying.Also recommended:HALF OF A YELLOW SUN, THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES,that I enjoyed this summer.
58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, heartwrenching, excellent.,
By DubaiReader "DubaiReader" (Dubai United Arab Emirates) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) (Paperback)
Read by our bookclub, this book produced enthusiastic reviews.
Teenage Kambili tells her story. Gradually we begin to see the cracks in a family that outwardly appears prosperous and loving. The children are painfully subserviant, less than first place in school provokes serious repercussions. The mother has repeated miscarriages while the father is the village philanthropist. After a visit to her Aunt Ifeoma and her three cousins, Kambili starts to see things as they really are; the life she thought normal starts to become frightening. The threatening thing about the situation is the power of the church and the Catholic religion, used as an excuse to inflict terrible punishment for percieved misdemeanors. Also the power of other people's opinions and maintaining a position within the village. It's a book that you won't want to put down, but some passages are quite distressing.
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