Here with the second part of her book reviews this week is Jamie Shin '20! She shares another story of a teenager struggling through family issues.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Taking place in Enugu, Nigeria, Purple Hibiscus is a novel fifteen-year-old Kambili and her journey to find herself amidst her father’s physical abuse and the strict rules of her religion. Living in a wealthy household with her honored Catholic father dictating every move, she is trapped in a small world with high walls. However, in the story, Kambili's eyes are opened to a new world when she and her brother, Jaja, get to stay with their aunt, an open-minded and intelligent university professor. There, they discover the warmth of a world fueled by familial love.
Since the story is told through the eyes of a teenage girl, I couldn’t help but feel the book was dragging a little bit at the beginning. However, the pace of the novel quickly sped up a few chapters in.
It took me a while to realize child abuse was one of the biggest topics in the book, because it comes up so subtly at first. Adichie does a good job of hinting at it but not revealing it overtly until later. It turns out that the mother has has multiple miscarriages, Jaja has a crippled hand, and Kambili almost dies due to the abuse. Adichie then uses symbolism to represent how the mother and the rest of the family deal with the abuse.
Adichie’s artistic voice paints a vivid picture for the audience. My favorite line in the book is the creative simile on page 25. “It was the same way I felt when he smiled, his face breaking open like a coconut with the brilliant white meat inside." Who knew you could compare a smile to the inside of a coconut?
Verdict: I would recommend this book to someone who would like to explore the fine line between love and hate, between religious faith and extremism, and between childhood and adulthood.
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