Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Summary and Reviews of Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (10):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2003, 307 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Fifteen-year-old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound. Her wealthy Catholic father, under whose shadow Kambili lives, while generous and politically active in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home.

When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili's father sends her and her brother away to stay with their aunt, a University professor, whose house is noisy and full of laughter. There, Kambili and her brother discover a life and love beyond the confines of their father's authority. The visit will lift the silence from their world and, in time, give rise to devotion and defiance that reveal themselves in profound and unexpected ways. This is a book about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred, between the old gods and the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"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 Weekly.

"This is a harsh story, almost unbearable at first, but beautifully written." - School Library Journal, recommended for adults & high school.

"This impressive first novel is redolent in its depiction of the Nigerian countryside and generates a palpable narrative tension over what's to become of Kambili and Jaja's newfound sense of freedom." - Booklist.

"Quiet, chilling, and heart wrenching, this debut novel is both a superb portrait of an unfamiliar culture and an unflinching depiction of the universal turmoil of adolescence." - Voya, recommended for young adults and up.

"The stunning denouement underscores the power of family love. Written with great sensitivity, this debut shows why Adichie has already won several awards." - Library Journal.

"Like many first-novelists, Adichie tries for too much; her portrayal of Kambili's home life is striking but provides far too incomplete a depiction of Papa. Her portrait of Nigeria is fascinating but fragmented. Auntie Ifeoma and the cousins are likable enough but not memorable. Nonetheless, with Kambili the author has created a compelling narrative-and a surprising punch at end." - Kirkus.

This information about Purple Hibiscus was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Cathryn Conroy

An Unforgettable Tale of the Power of the Human Psyche in That Liminal Space Between Love and Hate
This is a heartbreaking book. And while I believe this may very well be great literature, it is not a book one should read lightly. It is absolutely devastating.

Written by the inimitable Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the lyrical, sometimes gritty prose will take you on a Nigerian journey of family, misguided love, violent secrets, and the psychological breakdown of two children.

Eugene Achike is a very wealthy and generous man, who is powerful because of his money. He and his wife, Beatrice, and their two teenaged children Jaja, 17, and Kambili, 15, live in a gated mansion with servants, plenty of food, and luxuries most Nigerians will never see. But this is not a happy home. Eugene, a fanatic Catholic who singlehandedly financially supports the local church, cruelly rules his wife and children with an iron fist. He doles out discipline, which typically involves unspeakable violence, for the slightest infractions. For 10 days, Jaja and Kambili are permitted to visit with their aunty and cousins, who live in small flat in a university town where everything from fuel to chicken is carefully rationed but where love, laughter, and singing abound. After their father makes a startling discovery about their short visit, Jaja and Kambili must return home immediately, and the terror and defiance that ensues tests Kambili's very heart and soul. The denouement is stark, chilling, and absolutely perfect.

Functioning stylistically as a shadow to the narrative of the Achike family is the secondary story of a government in chaos with political unrest, daring defiance, and violent disturbances.

Told in Kambili's first person, elegiac voice with utter candor, this remarkable coming-of-age story will alternately inspire in readers rage and sympathy, anger and compassion. It is an unforgettable and emotional tale of the power of the human psyche in that liminal space between love and hate.

Bonus: The vivid and colorful descriptions of Nigeria—from earthworms crawling in a sparkling white tub to the intense heat before a drenching rain—are so realistic that you will feel transported to the heart of Africa.

Ishwari Prasad Paudel

Transculturation
I liked this book the most and I am having my MA thesis on it.

Ibekailo Fransy

purple Hibiscus
The book purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adiche is a captivating and interesting story that kept me on edge till the last page of it. The part that I fancy most is the dispute between Eugene and his father (i.e Kambili's grand father) over religion. Well written. I must commend Miss Adiche for a wonderful piece of work.

Adeleye Kanyinsola Grace

Purple Hibiscus: a book review
The book purple hibiscus is a very influential book and very inspiring, it teaches a lesson to all parents most especially fathers: they should not try to keep their children in bondage or stop them from being exposed to things that would help them. I cite an example when Kambili and her brother went to their aunt's house fora holiday. They were not used to playing with other children of their age, instead they avoided them.
Also a good Christian must learn to portray his true nature both outside and on the inside. We should never be a chameleon to people around us. For example Kambili's father portrayed himself as a chameleon by doing good to outsiders and being brutal to his family.

Onuoha Azuka Davidson

dave's review
Interesting! excellent!! well written novel by an epitome of the African woman.....Mrs Adichie. It captures man's inhumanity to man especially during military rule in Nigeria and also the negative effects of religious fanaticism and hypocrisy.

kalejaye aminat olaide

the purple hibiscus
Chimamanda is actually a prolific writer, the book is very interesting and straightforward, a must read for everyone, especially students preparing for their final exams in Nigeria!

...4 more reader reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Author Biography

Photo © Okey Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka where she attended primary and secondary schools and briefly studied Medicine and Pharmacy. She then moved to the United States to attend college, graduating summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State with a major in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins and a Masters degree in African Studies from Yale.

Purple Hibiscus won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was also short-listed for the Orange Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and long-listed for the Booker Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Website

Name Pronunciation
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Chim-muh-MAHN-duh en-GOH-zee ah-DEECH-ee-(ay) The “ay” is soft, not quite a diphthong.

Other books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at BookBrowse
  • The Thing Around Your Neck jacket
  • Half of a Yellow Sun jacket

5 more...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...
  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Book Jacket
The Story Collector
by Evie Woods
From the international bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop!
Who Said...

A book may be compared to your neighbor...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.