In June 2024 the Athlone Book Club read Purple hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. They thought
A page turner but difficult subject matter at times. We felt we were transported to Nigeria and another culture. 4/5 Stars.
Her life is regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, prayer. When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili’s father, involved mysteriously in the political crisis, sends her to live with her aunt. In this house, noisy and full of laughter, she discovers life and love – and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family. This extraordinary debut novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, is about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new, childhood and adulthood, love and hatred – the grey spaces in which truths are revealed and real life is lived.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. Here she discovers love and a life - dangerous and heathen - beyond the confines of her father's authority.
This article was published on: 18th June, 2024
Filed under: Library blog, Reading
Tags: Athlone book club, Book club thoughts, book review, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Modern & contemporary fiction, Nigerian fiction