Purple Hibiscus: The Highlight of my Summer Reading

Every once in a while I feel the urge to read something literary (sort of like when you sometimes crave broccoli). Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus had been chilling on my bookshelf for months, so I decided to give it a little attention. I had no idea that it would be the best book I read all summer!

Purple Hibiscus is the story of Kambili, a 15-year-old girl living in Enugu, Nigeria during a time of great political turmoil. Kambili and her brother Jaja come from a wealthy and highly-esteemed family, and are sheltered from the poverty and political unrest just beyond their doorstep.  But life for the members of Kambili's family is not as perfect as it seems, and her father's unrealistic expectations of his wife and child place great strain on their household. When Kambili and Jaja go to visit their progressive aunt and cousins and return to the house, they are able to look at their situation with new, more critical eyes.

The narrative voice of Kambili is one of the most powerful I've heard in a long time. The vibrant characters and the complexity of the novel's family structures are just some of the things that make this book so great. I have always admired the author for her views on feminism and female authors, and I highly recommend this novel, as well as Adichie's TED talk on post-colonial literature and the danger of a "single voice."