Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Jayme)

Title:  Purple Hibiscus
Author:  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Published:  2003, Algonquin Books
Genre:  historical fiction
Accolades:  2005 - Commonwealth Writers Prize, 2004 -  shortlist Orange Prize,  2004 - longlist Booker Prize

Set in Nigeria during the Abacha military regime of the mid-1990s, Purple Hibiscus is a coming-of-age story centering around, Kambili, the daughter of a wealthy newspaper publisher and benefactor to the community and church.  To everyone, even family, Kambili, her brother Jaja, and their mother appear to have it all, but what they really have is a religiously fanatic father who enforces his Christian beliefs with physical abuse and horribly punishes them for what he considers heathen-like behavior. It isn’t until they spend a week in the home of their Auntie and cousins that Kambili and Jaja begin to really understand the beauty of their native religion and that there could possibly be other choices,other ways to live. 

This was the first book that I read by Adichie and I keep wondering what took me so long. Written in first person narrative Adichie captures the innocence of Kambili as she maneuvers through the terror of her world.  The vivid details of the abuse was staggering: 

"He lowered the kettle into the tub, tilted it toward my feet. He poured the hot water on my feet, slowly, as if he were conducting an experiment and wanted to see what would happen...The pain of contact was so pure, so scalding, I felt nothing for a second. And then I screamed." page 194

For all the heart ache and pain that Kambili experiences what is most amazing is that this book is about hope and strength.  The courage of the Nigerian people as they try to survive the atrocites of the Abache military regime are mirrored in Kambili's young life.   Adichie paints such vivid imagery of the Nigerian culture and landscape that you can almost feel the sweat running down your back and taste the sweet mango as you walk in the market place with Kambili.

Purple Hibiscus is simply a beautiful and powerful novel that should not be missed. 

Laura's Review - Oryx and Crake

Human society, they claimed, was a sort of monster, its main by-products being corpses and rubble. It never learned, it made the same cretinous mistakes over and over, trading short-term gain for long-term pain. It was like a giant slug eating its way relentlessly through all the other bioforms on the planet, grinding up life on earth and shitting it out the backside in the form of pieces of manufactured and soon-to-be-obsolete plastic junk. (p. 243)

Snowman, formerly known as Jimmy, lives in relative solitude, sleeping in a lean-to and scavenging for food and water in a city destroyed by a disaster. He wears a watch, although it no longer functions, and covers himself with a bed sheet as protection from the sun's harsh rays. Snowman also watches over the "Children of Crake," a group of ... what are they? People? Aliens? And how did all this come to pass?

Snowman's entire life is set sometime in a near future, that bears some resemblance to the world we know today. The story takes us back to Snowman's childhood, when his father worked for one of many corporations using science to "improve" the world. Through genetic engineering, they seek to evolve human and animal life to advanced forms, free from perceived weaknesses. But of course that comes with a price to people and society. Snowman and his best friend Crake spend their days in typical boy/teen pursuits, like videogames, but even these have a somewhat sinister aspect. As they grow up, their paths diverge -- Crake is more scientifically minded, and is recruited by a renowned university -- but they meet up again in their 20s, along with Oryx, a beautiful woman they have both admired for years.

Along the way, Margaret Atwood leaves tiny clues, so the reader begins to envision what will happen, and how Snowman ends up as possibly the last remaining human on earth. It's both gripping and highly disturbing. Atwood considers her work "speculative fiction," not science fiction. And Oryx and Crake has the requisite dystopian and apocalyptic elements. It's not my usual fare, but she is so good at it, I could easily imagine Snowman's world, and see the path to it from the world I know today. In writing Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood said she intended to give one answer to the question, "What if we continue down the road we're already on? How slippery is the slope? What are our saving graces? Who's got the will to stop us?" And frankly, her answer is bleak. It could be a wake-up call. Or we could all just continue down the road we're already on ...




Cross-posted from my blog

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Jill)

Purple Hibiscus
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Completed July 11, 2011

In her debut novel, Chimananda Ngozi Adichie engrosses her reader with the story of 15-year-old Kambili, a young girl living in Nigeria under the abusive rule of her father, Eugene. Kambili and her older brother, Jaja, are forced to live in the strictest of circumstances - punished physically and emotionally for the smallest of infractions - all while their country goes to hell in a handbasket.

The siblings get a reprieve when their Aunty Ifeoma invites them to her house for a holiday. There, Kambili and Jaja see a more loving home where children can make mistakes and express their opinions. It's an eye-opening stay for them both. It added more rebellion to Jaja's ways, and it showed Kambili a different kind of Catholicism, led by her friendship with a young priest. When the two returned home, they struggled to live under their father's oppressive rule.

Let's talk a moment about Eugene, who I call "Asshole." A jerk to his wife and kids, he was the pinnacle of charity to his community, often paying for other children's education and donating large sums of money to the Church. He also funded the only Nigerian newspaper that spoke out against dictatorship, and his views on democracy were quite enlightened. While his public persona was admirable, his private life was disgusting. The way he treated his wife and children were unforgiveable. Charity begins at home, Asshole.

Don't let this ugly character dissuade you. Purple Hibiscus is a stunning story. Adichie is magical in her writing, transporting her readers to Nigeria with just a few sentences. I could smell the flowers, taste the food and see the landscape. She adeptly mixes her native tongue into the dialogue - all without losing the reader. She's astonishingly talented for such a young woman.

I can't recommend Purple Hibiscus enough. You will learn a lot about Nigerian culture, and be moved by the story and characters. If you haven't read stories by Adichie, this is a good place to start. I don't think you'll be disappointed. ( )

Laura's Review - The Colour

In 1864, Joseph Blackstone, his new wife Harriet, and his mother Lilian emigrated from England to New Zealand in search of a better life. Lilian, recently widowed, pines for her former lifestyle and resents having to live on their remote farm. But at the same time, she also hopes to rise above her station, and is disappointed to encounter familiar class barriers in New Zealand:

The familiar feeling of being snubbed -- a feeling she'd thought belonged only to England, where the disdain of the upper classes infected every encounter -- made Lilian want to weep, or, worse, give Dorothy Orchard a vicious swipe across her badly coiffed head. Lilian was particularly vexed by the knowledge that she never understood exactly how people like Dorothy Orchard achieved their instantaneous mastery over others outside their class. It happened before you noticed it, like a perfectly executed card trick. (p. 78)

Joseph is arrogant and stubborn, refusing to listen to advice from the locals on where to build his house, and what materials to use. Joseph and Harriet have an odd relationship. Joseph has a secret in his past, and married for all the wrong reasons. It's not clear what they see in one another, and it doesn't take long for Harriet to realize she will never truly love Joseph:

For day by day, she kept secret from him her own lovelessness. It piled up in her. At times, it was not merely lack of love that she felt; it was hatred of the blackest kind. And though she struggled to conceal it from him, perhaps she succeeded no better than he did with his blatant heaps of earth? In the nights, she often awoke at first light to see him staring at her, his eye close to hers, his fists clenched around the sheets. Did he know that she did not love him? Did he understand all too clearly that she loved the wilderness he had brought her to, but not him? (p. 95)

Yet both Harriet and Lilian are committed to making their farm a success, even after Joseph finds gold in a nearby creek and decides to join the hundreds of other men seeking their fortunes in New Zealand's gold rush. Circumstances eventually force Harriet to go off on her own, in search of Joseph.

The story is told from alternating points of view with chapters narrated by Harriet, Joseph, and a couple of other characters who weave nicely into the storyline. Joseph turns out to be an arrogant and hapless loner, unable to relate to women and desperate to please his mother by accumulating wealth. Harriet is strong and independent, undaunted by Joseph's failings and refusing to bow to societal expectations of women. It is only through Harriet's intelligence that the couple have any chance of finding gold and making something of their lives together.

But that's only part of this story; Rose Tremain has more to say than "just" historical drama laced with love. She also shows how the quest for gold took its toll on the land and destroyed both individuals and communities. Those who are untouched by greed and continued leading simple lives were by far the happiest and, one could argue, the most successful.



Cross-posted from my blog

Purple Hibiscus - 3M's Review

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has really impressed me with her writing abilities. Purple Hibiscus was Adichie’s first novel. I read her second book, Half of a Yellow Sun, last year and it was in my Top 20 for 2007. Although some have stated that Purple Hibiscus was not as good as Half of a Yellow Sun, I disagree. I think it was just as well-written, and in fact I may prefer it.

Kambili and her family are of the wealthy upper class in Nigeria. Her father owns several factories and is a major benefactor of his local church. Kambili is a very compliant child, always wanting to please her parents, while her brother Jaja is much more independent. Their father is very strict regarding his household in every detail. He puts both of them on a schedule everyday and they must not deviate from it. He insists on each child being first in their respective classes.

I felt so much for Kambili. In the beginning she truly looks up to her father and wants to please him. She believes he is perfect. As the story progresses, she sees more and more of his faults and begins to have more questions about his discipline. Kambili’s mother also suffers from his excessive demands. Any missteps he considers as sins to be physically removed from those committing them. Adichie doesn’t totally set him up as a monster, though; somehow she manages to make the reader sympathize (a little) with him as well.

Purple Hibiscus is not just a story of domestic abuse. It is also about the past political conflicts in Nigeria, about how Christianity has affected the region, and also about the strong bonds among family members. Adichie truly is following in Achebe’s footsteps as one of Nigeria’s greatest writers.

Highly recommended.

2003, 307 pp.
Rating: 4.5/5

Laura's Review - Purple Hibiscus

Purple Hibiscus

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

307 pages

Kimbali is the 15-year-old daughter of a wealthy Nigerian businessman. Her father, Eugene, is adored by the community for his philanthropy. Their home is spacious, luxuriously furnished, and immaculate. But within his home Eugene rules with an iron hand, guided by his fanatical religious beliefs. He keeps his children on a tight schedule and closely monitors their activities. He is estranged from his own father because of his refusal to convert to Christianity, and his children’s visits with their grandfather are limited to 15 minutes. When Kimbali and her brother Jaja are allowed to visit their Aunty Ifeoma and her children, they experience love and laughter for the first time. Kimbali is intimidated, afraid that she is going against her father’s will, and against God. She is also embarrassed by her lack of basic household skills. Jaja adapts more easily to his cousins’ lifestyle, and finds satisfaction in household chores, tending the garden, and playing sports with local boys. They both return home changed by the experience.

All of this unfolds against a backdrop of Nigerian political unrest which threatens the lives of several characters. But this story is primarily a coming-of-age novel: Kimbali’s process of self-discovery continues, and Jaja begins to resist his father’s authority. Their abusive home environment is increasingly evident. This was Adichie’s debut novel; it was long-listed for the 2004 Booker Prize and made the Orange Prize shortlist the same year. While it was not as compelling as her second book, Half of a Yellow Sun (my review), it is beautifully written and filled with believable characters. I found the symbolism behind the purple hibiscus particularly moving:

Jaja’s defiance seemed to me now like Aunty Ifeoma’s purple hibiscus: rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom, a different kind of freedom from the one the crowds waving green leaves chanted at Government Square after the coup. A freedom to be, do do. (p. 16) ( )

My original review can be found here.

The Colour by Rose Tremain (Jill)

The Colour
By Rose Tremain
Completed August 16, 2008

On the surface, The Colour by Rose Tremain was a beautifully written account of English settlers in mid-nineteenth century New Zealand, trying to escape their demons while carving a new life for themselves. However, if you scratch deeper, you saw that it’s also a story about the attainment of happiness, and more importantly, how to be happy with what you’ve already attained in life.

Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, along with Joseph’s mother, Lilian, settled in their cob house in rural New Zealand, and while dredging the creek, Joseph discovered gold dust. New Zealand was at the throes of a gold rush – much like in California – and Joseph immediately was struck with gold fever. He hid his discovery from his wife and mother, until the fever (literally) overtook him, and he voyaged out to strike it rich. Meanwhile, Harriet and Lilian were left to make do on an undeveloped farm in meager shelter.

Joseph was an interesting character. Hard-working but unconfident, he was hell bent to redeem himself from his “mistake” in England, especially in the eyes of his mother. Redemption for Joseph was in the form of money and success, which is why he was so determined to find more gold. Harriet was another interesting character. Strong, smart and practical, she longed for the mountainous life in New Zealand, but became steadily uneasy with the life Joseph wanted for them. For her, a simple but successful farm filled with warmth and love was more important than wealth.

I have never read a book set in New Zealand, and I was fascinated with the inclusions of the native culture, wildlife and customs that Tremain sprinkled in this book. The rigors of farm life and gold camps were blatant and telling, with tragedy poking its head around each corner. You wished the best for each character, even when he didn’t know what was the best thing for him (or her).

This was my first Rose Tremain novel but not my last. Her storytelling, vivid language and fascinating characters left me begging for more. I highly recommend The Colour to readers who enjoy great historical fiction or want to learn more about the settlement of the British in New Zealand. ( )

Oryx and Crake - 3M's Review

I love Margaret Atwood, but Oryx and Crake was just too gritty for my taste. This was compounded by the fact that I listened to it on audio. Hearing the graphic descriptions was even worse than reading it. This was my fifth Atwood, and by far my least favorite.

The narrator is Jimmy, code-named Snowman. Crake is a sort of Dr. Moreau figure, while Oryx is a woman caught between the two. I don’t want to give away too many details for those who still want to read it, but if you’re squeamish about graphic s*xu*l situations (including child p*r*o*raphy), I would advise against it. I didn’t get why it had to have that element to the story. I also wondered why the title of the book was named that way, but in the end, I guess it was because Oryx and Crake were the two most influential figures in Jimmy’s life.

I would recommend reading other Atwoods before this one. The Handmaid’s Tale, Cat’s Eye, and The Penelopiad are my favorites so far.

2003, 378 pp. (2/5)

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Jill)

Oryx and Crake
By Margaret Atwood
Completed July 17, 2008

In Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood took her readers on another dystopian journey, but unlike her The Handmaid’s Tale, this book failed to captivate me as a reader.

Oryx and Crake is the story of Snowman, formally called Jimmy, who was living as the last homo sapien on a beachfront filled with genetically mixed animals and genetically created humans. Through flashbacks, we learned about Jimmy’s childhood - how his father worked at a genetics lab, how Jimmy met Glenn (later called Crake) and how the mysterious Oryx entered both boys’ lives.

Glenn/Crake would evolve into a “mad” scientist, of sorts, making a virus that would kill all humans (except Jimmy), and creating a new species of peaceful, plant-eating humans who only bred during certain seasons. Crake tasked Jimmy with being a guardian of his new species, which Jimmy reluctantly did.

Oryx was an interesting character though I didn’t learn a lot about her. She may have been a subject in a child pornography video that Jimmy and Crake watched as teenagers. Crake eventually hired Oryx for sexual favors, and Jimmy became Oryx’s lover. She flitted in and out of the chapters like a little bird. As a reader, I could never get a hold of her.

Oryx and Crake is rich in social commentary and satire. It’s an alternate but futuristic viewpoint on what may happen if we alter the genetic make-ups of humans and animals. It’s also a story of control and love. While I usually enjoy reading Atwood stories and dystopian tales, my lack of character attachment and disinterest in the story’s scientific elements made the entire novel dull to me. Usually, good dystopian fiction are stories of survival or warning signs of what could happen. For me, Oryx and Crake had neither trait. In all, it was more fiction than science. ( )

Purple Hibiscus

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja live in a privileged world within Nigeria, where their wealthy father Eugene can provide them with many comforts and luxuries. In stark contrast, Eugene’s sister Ifeoma struggles as a university professor to put food on the table for her children. However, for all their wealth, Kambili’s family has much less joy than her cousins’. While Eugene and Ifeoma were both converted to Catholicism by missionaries, Eugene embraced it to the exclusion of his culture and his former life, while Ifeoma was able to incorporate Catholicism into her life without rejecting her heritage. Eugene sets exacting, impossible standards for his children, who only learn to enjoy life and find out more about their family and their heritage when they are sent to stay with Ifeoma during a school holiday.

One of my favorite books I read last year was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, about the Nigerian war to create the independent state of Biafra, so I approached Purple Hibiscus, her first novel, with a mix of eagerness and dread. I confess to being rather hard on first novels, and I wanted this book to compare favorably to Half of a Yellow Sun. Purple Hibiscus is not nearly as wide in scope as Half of a Yellow Sun–while political unrest in Nigeria informs the work, Adichie’s main focus in Purple Hibiscus is family and religion. Within its narrower confines, and more familiar territory, Adichie still manages to demonstrate her considerable talent as a writer, and while the book doesn’t equal Half of a Yellow Sun, the path to it from this work is clear.

On the surface, Purple Hibiscus reads like a YA novel, and Kambili’s narrative voice at times seems younger than her 15 years. Yet Adichie’s oblique questioning of Catholicism/Christianity as any more valid than polytheism gives the mature reader plenty of food for thought. Eugene’s abuse of his children is at times tough to take, and while I would recommend this book to mature teenagers, their parents should be prepared to discuss this difficult issue.

The Great Fire - Wendy's Review

Now they were starting. Finality ran through the train, an exhalation. There were thuds, hoots, whistles, and the shrieks of late arrivals. From a megaphone, announcements were incomprehensible in American and Japanese. Before the train had moved at all, the platform faces receded into the expression of those who remain. -From The Great Fire, page 1-

Shirley Hazzard's award winning novel, The Great Fire, follows the parallel lives of two men at the end of World War II - Peter Exley, an Australian living in China to investigate war crimes; and Aldred Leith, a Brit who has traveled to Japan near Hiroshima to record the effects of war on the survivors. Both men struggle to come to terms with life after war ... and the novel explores their psyches through flashbacks of memory interspersed with their adjustment back to civilian life. Of the two, Peter is the least developed character - but nonetheless, the reader empathizes with his struggle over whether to pursue a life in music or return to toil in his father's law firm.

Hazzard spends more time refining the character of Aldred Leith who arrives in Japan to stay with an Australian Brigadier and his family. Brigadier Driscoll and his wife are unlikeable people who have two children - Ben and Helen. Ben, at age 20, is dying from Friedreich's Ataxia. His sister, Helen at age 17, provides the love interest for the adult Leith. The difference in their ages lends a subtle conflict to the novel. Leith's former preoccupation with his work is gradually replaced by his obsession with Helen ... and it is through this love, that he begins to understand how he will recover from the psychological effects of the war.

Hazzard's writing is beautiful and hypnotic, yet at times ambiguous. Entering the world of her novel feels a bit like plunging into a vast and complicated art museum where everything must be slowly considered and the meaning is not always clear. At times I felt tranquilized by Hazzard's descriptions, such as when Leith has a memory from childhood:

Aldred shifted his chair to look at the logs. These were among earliest memories: the heavy loads dragged in out of evening air, or out of rain, to dry in the warm kitchen. The Tarpaulin spread, and the pieces brushed off roughly, one by one. Loose bark, wood dust. The kindling struck off and set aside. The child, who was himself, squatting silent on the periphery, peering into shapes, textures, colours; the mottlings and dapplings. The scrubby bark, coruscated, or the smooth angular pieces like bones. Forms arched and grooved like a lobster, or humped like a whale. Dark joints, to which foliage adhered like bay leaves in a stew. Pinecones, and a frond of pine needles still flourishing on the hacked branch. And the creatures that inched or sped or wriggled out, knowing the game was up: slugs, pale worms, tiny white grubs, scurrying busily off as if to a destination. An undulant caterpillar, and an inexorable thing with pincers. Or the slow slide of an unhoused snail - the hodmedod, as they called him here - revisiting the lichens and pigmentations and fungoid flakes that had clung to his only home - freckled growths dusted, seemingly, with cocoa; red berries, globules of white wax. Wet earthy smell, forest smell. The implements set aside; the elder Laister stern with him: "Dawn't tooch the axe. I'm warning you." -From The Great Fire, page 222-

This is a slowly unfolding novel - quite literary in style and phrasing. It is a novel about love and recovery from war, about friendships and the complications of family. For those readers who enjoy a gently paced story and want to be enveloped and lost in words, this one is for you.

Recommended; rated 4/5.

Purple Hibiscus - Wendy's Review

Jaja's defiance seemed to me now like Aunty Ifeoma's experimental purple hibiscus: rare, fragrant with the undertones of freedom, a different kind of freedom from the one the crowds waving green leaves chanted at Government Square after the coup. A freedom to be, to do. -From Purple Hibiscus, page 16-

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel - Purple Hibiscus - is a poignant, beautifully written story. It is narrated by Kambili, a 15 year old Nigerian girl who grows up with her brother, Jaja, amid domestic violence, religious fanaticism and political unrest. Kambili and Jaja's father, Eugene, is a well-respected and wealthy man who gives generously to his church and community; and as the publisher of a liberal newspaper, he speaks out against the tyranny of a new government following a coup. But, Adichie reveals a dark side to Eugene as he elevates his religious faith to something horrifying and tragic. As the story unfolds, we watch through Kambili's eyes as she matures and is transformed into a girl able to see beauty in a world full of cruelty, able to find love where she least expects it, and ultimately to realize hope amid tragedy. Lyrical, honest, exquisitely crafted and with an ending that stuns the reader … Purple Hibiscus will resonate with those who appreciate an authentic tale. Highly recommended.