Purple Hibiscus: The extraordinary debut novel from the Women's Prize-winning and global bestselling author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Another fantastic bobby dazzler of a book from Adicie. Can this woman do no wrong?

I boughg this book for my son, its good and condition was fine because i ordered the used one, arrived soon.thank u

This book made me cry so much my eyes turned red and got so swollen I could hardly see. Purple Hibiscus is a beautiful book, beautiful and terrible at the same time. The setting is perfectly rendered and I felt like I was really there, seeing, tasting and smelling everything. I love it when a writer takes me out of my world. The characters are fantastic as well. The backdrop of the novel is one of conflict as a military coup changes the lives of the characters in devastating ways, threatening the sheltered life of Kambili’s wealthy family. The book is chilling at times especially with the fanatical bouts of violence doled out by Kambili’s father. Some pages were very painful to read. The ending completely floored me. I was not expecting that. I adored Purple Hibiscus.

Vivid characterisations, immersive rich descriptive prose, penetrating social comment, make this truly great literature. Whilst the author’s ‘Half a Yellow Sun’ focuses on tribal conflict, ‘Purple Hibiscus’ focuses on conflict within family. Adichie exposes the distortions of a religion which forces priestly celibacy, which focuses on ritual, doctrine, and obedience, rather than ethics and virtue. In one poignant phrase she deftly dismisses its unethical doctrine of substitutionary atonement, in the words of Jaja on God ‘Why did He have to murder his own son so we could be saved? Why didn’t He just go ahead and save us’ (p189), and then lays the impact of wider human fault on Jaja himself.The family’s father figure is a complex of business success, community contribution, religious bigotry, and evil perpetrator of atrocious domestic violence. He stands as a microcosm of sections of Nigerian society. Perhaps some are simply individual psychopaths flourishing in a society dominated by Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’, but for others, deprivation and suppression generate anger expressed in domestic violence. In contradiction his sister shows exemplary, perhaps too perfective, virtue, but she, like the virtuous priest, leave the country which is thereby further weakened in a vicious downward ethical circle. Adichie’s portrait is all too recognisable. The question is whether there is any salvific social option?

It was so long ago that I read 'Purple Hibiscus' but it still remains one of my favourite reads of the decade. I felt to write this review since Adichie's follow up 'Half of a Yellow Sun' has garnered so much praise - which I feel is by and large unwarranted in comparison to 'Purple Hibiscus' - whilst her debut remains the strongest indicator of what a formidable writer Adichie can be.So subtle and understated this book is simply far too well written for it to be as easy as it seems. Kambili is at once irritatingly passive and completely sympathy-worthy. The issues addressed here - religion, hypocrisy, coming-of-age, domestic violence - would be derivative and clichéd in the hands of a lesser writer. Yet the author pulls it off - in fact so well that its precisely what makes her debut stand out. Unlike '...Yellow Sun' Adichie does not rely on sensationalist plot devices such as violence, sex and profanity to drive this story along. In fact not a lot happens in regards to plot but so much character development is going on. I found it a lot easier to care and engage with the characters in 'Purple Hibiscus' than the follow up and there seems to be a lot more freedom in the way Adichie writes it, devoid of the self-consciousness and what seemed too much like insincerity that marred 'Half of a Yellow Sun' for me.Purple Hibiscus was a pleasant surprise. Paced well, long enough to get the point across without overstaying its welcome, I highly recommend it. I bought it on a whim and having read it I was chagrined Adichie did not get more recognition for it. It's a prodigiously good debut and her only problem might be matching or surpassing it. I will read '..Hibiscus' again one day to ensure it has not lost its sparkle.The fact 'Hibiscus..' has been eclipsed by Adichie winning the Orange Prize for 'Half of a Yellow...' is a classic example of why people should not wait to be told what to read by the likes of Richard and Judy and the mainstream. In short, we shouldn't fall too often into the trap of literary populism, deciding to like a book based on its exposure regardless of its quality. I think to overlook '...Hibiscus' is to miss what is really special about Adichie as a writer.

Having read other books by this author I was interested to read this one. Generally a number of very thought-provoking insights on Nigeria, the reality of everyday life for the middle classes as well as villagers, the effect of religion and also familial abuse - frankly not that different wherever it takes place. Its not a 5 star because I found the ending rather unsatisfactory - I needed to know more! However, we discussed it at my bookclub and not everyone agreed. We all gave it a positive rating however.