Purple Hibiscus: A Novel

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Apr 2012 · Sold by Algonquin Books

About this ebook

“One of the most vital and original novelists of her generation.” —Larissa MacFarquhar, The New Yorker

From the bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They're completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating.

As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together.

Purple Hibiscus is an exquisite novel about the emotional turmoil of adolescence, the powerful bonds of family, and the bright promise of freedom.

Ratings and reviews

I read nearly all of this book in one sitting. It had the same effect on me as another famous Nigerian novel (Things Fall Apart): even though the times were hard, I wanted to go live in Nsukka during the period the story happens in. I love the descriptions of all the different kinds of religious life. Even the characters hardest to love are in fact not hard to love. This book is relatable and deeply moving! 💖

This book could simply have been done with the first 50 pages and then the last 50. The fluff in between is the part intellectuals in an English class would cling to to associate the shortcomings of the main characters. Well written sentences fluency and word choice seep from the obvious feminist themes.

Very slow paced plot development towards the beginning, but it quickens later on and is a very good read overall. Have your napkins ready! I cried so much reading this! Finally, a lot of surprises are in store.

About the author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nigeria. Her work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared in various publications, including The O. Henry Prize Stories 2003, the New Yorker, Granta, the Financial Times, and Zoetrope. Purple Hibiscus, her first novel, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Her novel Half of a Yellow Sun won the Orange Broadband Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book and a People Best Book of the Year; her novel Americanah won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck, was the winner of the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. A recipient of a 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.