Will I love Purple Hibiscus?

You know when you first go to someone else’s house and realise that not every family lives the way yours does?

It’s part of the coming-of-age process and can be both illuminating and destabilising. In Adichie’s story, set in post-colonial Nigeria, 15-year-old Kambili gets the chance to escape her wealthy but religiously-oppressive household and stay with her vibrant, liberal aunt.

I love the way Kambili’s narrative expresses the new freedom she feels there: she has a voice at last and the liberty to experience a sexual awakening. She needs these new strengths as her own family disintegrates into tragedy.  

The main character Kambili helplessly suffers domestic abuse by her father who spares no one in the family. The bullying the family undergoes due to their tyrant father is heart-wrenching and a sadness stayed with me long after I closed the last page. The vivid writing made me feel as if I was at Kambili’s side watching helplessly as everyone imagined she had a perfect life. I recommend it for the descriptive writing, for anyone interested in coming of age stories, and if one wants to get a feel of an aspect of family life in Nigeria. Having grown up… show more.