Purple Hibiscus

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, teenage Kambili and her brother Jaja live in an upscale, constantly redecorated home, with servants to drive them to school and cook their meals. Their father, Eugene, demands top grades, religious compliance, and perfect behavior from his children, and physically punishes them when they fall short in any way.  The children are allowed supervised fifteen-minute visits with their grandfather, Eugene’s father, because he’s not a Christian. Eugene is an abusive religious fanatic, cruelly punishing his wife and children, but he also defends the journalists at his paper and provides charity for local families. This conflict is what makes the story work — like Kambili, I kept waiting to see which side of Eugene would win.

Kambili’s aunt, Ifeoma, is respected, educated college professor, but since the universities have no funding, she and her children are poor and struggling. She has a great professional title, but struggles to buy food and petrol. Like Eugene, her outside appearance and her private home life are at odds, but unlike Eugene, her home is full of laughter.

As the cousins get to know each other, different aspects of Nigerian life come into focus. At first, sheltered and repressed Kambili and Jaja seem like weirdos to their cousins, who are encouraged to ask and debate over simple meals. (There’s a lovely universality to the debates of professors’ kids) But, over time, the revolution comes for all of the family in different ways. It’s not exactly an uplifting story, but the developed, multi-faceted characters and foreign setting pulled me in. I loved discovering the complex relationships and layered loyalties.

I was interested in reading Purple Hibiscus after reading Americanah, and although they’re not part of the same series, there are connected themes.  In Purple Hibiscus, professor Ifeoma and her children end up leaving for the US. It’s clear that there are endless struggles ahead for this family, but without a salary at her university in Nigeria, it’s Ifeoma’s only real option. Americanah is about a Nigerian woman’s time in the US, the difficulties she faces, and continued questioning of her life options.