This is a book I was so invested in and I'm really glad it delievered exactly what I'd hoped for. I have never read African literature before but I've heard a lot about it. This book is definitely a good one to embark on to that genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to the hilt. There are grey shades to the characters but I can't help but mention that they are all so well carved particularly from a first time writer, Chimamanda Adichie. There was depth and intensity to every character that was layered so beautifully, that it seemed to you that they were actually exisitng in flesh and blood.
Purple Hibiscus tells the story of a 15 year old girl, Kambili and her younger brother Jaja whose day-to-day activities are scheduled by their religiously fanatic yet loving father, Eugene. He is so Christian that at one point in the book we realise that when they visit their hometown for vacation, they are allowed to visit their ancestor worshipping grandfather, Papa Nnukwu for not more than 15 minutes. The contrast between the living standards of the really rich, which are fewer in number and the poor or middle class, which are the majority; is distinctly shown in this book. The protagonist's father, Eugene is a really wealthy businessman and a philanthropist and so it is eveident that they live in huge mansions. Even the guesthouse at their home town is a really large, impressive residence. It is during one of these visits that they encounter their cousins, children of Eugene's sister Aunty Ifeoma and Ifeoma suggests to take them home for a few days at her place in Nsukka, to which Eugene agrees.The kids are soon charmed by the place and their cousins. But unavoidable circumstances unfurl and they are send once again to spend their days with the now well acquainted cousins. Political coup, uneasiness, arrests, murders in Enugu result in Eugene and his wife beoming walking wounds in an empty mansion.
This book has you in a viselike grip showing you that whether rich or poor, those who go against the ruling parties of Nigeria shall be severely punished. It leaves you in the end with a palpable sense of ache.
