num_pages: 307
description: A haunting tale of an Africa and an adolescence undergoing tremendous changes by a talented young Nigerian writer. Fifteen-year-old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls of her family compound and the frangipani trees she can see from her bedroom window. Her wealthy Catholic father, although generous and well-respected in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home. Her life is lived under his shadow and regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, and more prayer. She lives in fear of his violence and the words in her textbooks begin to turn to blood in front of her eyes. When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili's father, involved in mysterious ways with the unfolding political crisis, sends Kambili and her brother away to their aunt's. The house is noisy and full of laughter. Here she discovers love and a life -- dangerous and heathen -- beyond the confines of her father's authority. The visit will lift the silence from her world and, in time, reveal a terrible, bruising secret at the heart of her family life. between the old gods and the new; between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred. An extraordinary debut, Purple Hibiscus is a compelling novel which captures both a country and an adolescence at a time of tremendous change.
language: English
title: Purple Hibiscus
titlecomplete: Purple Hibiscus
characters: Eugene, Beatrice..., Jaja, Kambili
genres: Fiction, African Literature, School, Young Adult, Novels, Contemporary, Nigeria, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Africa
ratings_count: 113298
places: Nigeria
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Booker Prize
category: Longlist, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Shortlist, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
category: Debut Fiction, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best First Book Overall
publisher: Fourth Estate