Purple hibiscus: a novel by

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in 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. Amazon.com Review Purple Hibiscus , Nigerian-born writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's debut, begins like many novels set in regions considered exotic by the western reader: the politics, climate, social customs, and, above all, food of Nigeria (balls of fufu rolled between the fingers, okpa bought from roadside vendors) unfold like the purple hibiscus of the title, rare and fascinating. But within a few pages, these details, however vividly rendered, melt into the background of a larger, more compelling story of a joyless family. Fifteen-year-old Kambili is the dutiful and self-effacing daughter of a rich man, a religious fanatic and domestic tyrant whose public image is of a politically courageous newspaper publisher and philanthropist. No one in Papa's ancestral village, where he is titled ''Omelora'' (One Who Does For the Community), knows why Kambili1s brother cannot move one of his fingers, nor why her mother keeps losing her pregnancies. When a widowed aunt takes an interest in Kambili, her family begins to unravel and re-form itself in unpredictable ways. --Regina Marler From Publishers Weekly By turns luminous and horrific, this debut ensnares the reader from the first page and lingers in the memory long after its tragic end. First-person narrator Kambili Achike is a 15-year-old Nigerian girl growing up in sheltered privilege in a country ravaged by political strife and personal struggle. She and her brother, Jaja, and their quiet mother, who speaks ''the way a bird eats, in small amounts,'' live this life of luxury because Kambili's father is a wealthy man who owns factories, publishes a politically outspoken newspaper and outwardly leads the moral, humble life of a faithful Catholic. The many grateful citizens who have received his blessings and material assistance call him omelora, ''The One Who Does for the Community.'' Yet Kambili, Jaja and their mother see a side to their provider no one else does: he is also a religious fanatic who regularly and viciously beats his family for the mildest infractions of his interpretation of an exemplary Christian life. The children know better than to discuss their home life with anyone else; ''there was so much that we never told.'' But when they are unexpectedly allowed to visit their liberated and loving Aunty Ifeoma, a widowed university professor raising three children, family secrets and tensions bubble dangerously to the surface, setting in motion a chain of events that allow Kambili to slowly blossom as she begins to question the authority of the precepts and adults she once held sacred. In a 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. Lush, cadenced and often disconcerting, this is an accomplished first effort. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's extraordinary debut novel is about life’s blurred lines - the grey spaces where truths are revealed and real life is lived.The author of Half of a Yellow Sun explores the lines between the old gods and the new, childhood and adulthood, love and hatred. When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili’s father, who is mysteriously involved in the political crisis, sends her to live with her aunt. In this house, noisy and full of laughter, she discovers life and love - and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family."By turns luminous and horrific, this debut ensnares the reader from the first page and lingers in the memory long after its tragic end... In a 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. Lush, cadenced and often disconcerting, this is an accomplished first effort." - Publishers WeeklyChimamanda Ngozi Adichie to date is the only Booker writer to have her words sampled by Beyoncé. Adichie was just 27 when she was longlisted for the prize. She came to writing after moving to the United States aged 19, having initially studied medicine in Nigeria. She cut her teeth on poetry and short stories before turning to full-length fiction. Purple Hibiscus led to a vertiginous rise in the public consciousness, which sees Adichie now not just as a writer but also as a prominent voice on issues such as African literature, feminism, LGBT rights and cancel culture. Her TEDx talk ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ was sampled by Beyoncé in her 2013 song Flawless. “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. Description In The City Of Egunu, Nigeria, Fifteen Year-old Kambili And Her Older Brother Jaja Lead A Somewhat Cloistered Life. Their Father Is A Wealthy Businessman, They Live In A Beautiful Home, And Attend Private School. But, Through Kambili's Eyes, We See That Their Home Life Is Anything But Harmonious. Her Father, A Fanatically Religious Man Has Impossible Expectations Of His Children And His Wife, And If Things Don't Go His Way He Becomes Physically Abusive. Not Until Kambili And Jaja Are Sent Away From Home For The Very First Time To Visit Their Loving Aunt, Does Kambili's World Begin To Blossom. But When A Military Coup Threatens To Destroy The Country, The Tension In Her Family's Home Escalates, And Kambili Must Find The Strength To Keep Her Loved Ones Together. By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.