Book: Purple Hibiscus
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Pages: 307
Plot Summary: The limits of fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world are defined by the high walls of her family estate and the dictates of her fanatically religious father. Her life is regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, prayer.
When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili’s father, involved mysteriously 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.
This extraordinary debut novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun, is about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new, childhood and adulthood, love and hatred – the grey spaces in which truths are revealed and real life is lived.
Characters: This book has some very strong characters. Our main character, Kambili is however not the strongest of people you'll read about, but this mainly because of her tyrannical father. Kambili is a good kid, she is bright, works hard and respects her parents. Sometimes, in the course of the book, I found myself wishing she weren't so kind or docile. Her family life is a sham. Her father, Eugene, is a wealthy man and a religious man. He is also an abusive monster. Behind the high wall of his luxurious home he beats his poor wife and his two children. He expects nothing but perfection from his family and even a slight slip leads to a violent beating.
Kambili loves her father. While I personally found this baffling, how can you love someone, a parent no less who beat you so viciously that you ended up in a hospital??? As much as I understand the complexity of growing up in a abusive home and how it corrodes your spirit and self-worth, I just couldn't really get myself to really root for Kambili.
Her brother Ja Ja is much more likable and heroic character. I really liked him and by the end of the book was rooting for him.
I also loved Kambili and Ja Ja's aunty and her kids. They provided an alternate world for Kambili and she got to see how a real family is like and how life without the constant state of fear can be like.
What I Liked: The writing, I am a fan of the author's writing. She writes simply and beautifully. This was the second book of hers that I read and I loved it.
I also liked the look inside a abusive hell, not that it made of easy reading. Some parts were downright difficult to read. But I think the author managed to really get the dread and fear that Kambili, Ja Ja and their mother felt whenever the father was angry.
What I Didnt' Like: It might seem silly but I didn't really like Kambili. I found her infuriating, loving, respecting and holding her abusive father in the highest esteem. She really loved him. And I just wanted her to be a little more evolved, a little more sorted. She doesn't almost till the very end, she doesn't see her father for who he really is. She thinks, her family and she deserve the cruelty that's meted out to them.
General Thoughts: I read The Thing Around Your Neck by the same author and loved it. Read the review HERE. I wanted to read more from the same author and promptly ordered this book online, and this didn't disappoint.
Will You Like It? Well, as difficult as the beating were, this is a well-written book. So you will most likely write it.
Rating: 3/5
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