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Published in 2003, Purple Hibiscus is the first novel by writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Set in Adichie’s native country of Nigeria, the book is a coming-of-age story told from the point of view of Kambili, a shy girl caught between her father’s strict conservatism and her estranged aunt’s more loving and tolerant family. As Kambili’s daily reality shifts, so do the politics of Nigeria, a country on the cusp of radical change.
The story begins on Palm Sunday in Enugu, Nigeria, in the home of the Achike family: Papa, Mama, Kambili and Jaja. Fifteen-year-old Kambili watches as her authoritarian father hurls his Catholic prayer book at her older brother, Jaja, for refusing to receive communion that day. Instead of hitting Jaja, however, the book hits a shelf of his wife’s beloved figurines. This violent outburst marks the beginning of the end for the Achike family.
From there, the story jumps back in time as Kambili takes us through the months leading up to Palm Sunday. As a result of her father’s tyrannical parenting, Kambili is high-achieving and withdrawn, causing her peers to think she is a snob, a perception that is heightened by the Achikes’ apparent wealth. Despite Papa’s abusive presence in the Achike home, the community respects him for his role as publisher of The Standard, a newspaper that openly criticizes government corruption.
At Christmas, Papa’s sister, Aunty Ifeoma, arrives for a visit, bringing her three children: brothers Chima and Obiora, and their sister Amaka. The more liberal Aunty Ifeoma clashes with conservative Papa about their father, Papa-Nnukwu, with whom Papa has cut ties as a result of his father’s so-called “heathen” belief in the Igbo religion. Aunty Ifeoma proposes that Kambili and Jaja come to visit her family in Nsukka so she can take them on a pilgrimage to Aokpe, where recent sightings of the Virgin Mary have drawn crowds. Begrudgingly, Papa agrees to let his son and daughter go.
Nsukka is a different world, gripped by blackouts, strikes, and fuel shortages. Despite her aunt’s lack of resources as compared to her own, Kambili sees that Aunty Ifeoma’s house is a loving one. As a widowed professor at the university, she is an independent woman who encourages her children to question authority in a way that does not clash with their faith in God. While Jaja blossoms in Nsukka, Kambili initially withdraws even further under the scrutiny of her cousin, Amaka, who mocks Kambili for mumbling and criticizes her as a snob.
Soon, however, Aunty Ifeoma introduces Kambili to the family’s priest, Father Amadi, to whom she feels an instant connection. Father Amadi encourages Kambili to speak her mind, showing her an alternative to her father’s rigid approach to religion. Although she lives in fear of her father’s daily check-in calls to Nsukka, Kambili begins to open up during her week away from home, even growing closer to the opinionated Amaka.
Papa-Nnukwu falls ill during Kambili and Jaja’s stay, and Aunty Ifeoma brings him to her home so that she can care for him. Kambili and Jaja decide not to tell their father about Papa-Nnukwu’s stay, as he would never condone them living under the same roof as a heathen. Slowly, the siblings begin to appreciate their estranged grandfather’s pagan beliefs. However, when Papa-Nnukwu cannot seek care due to a hospital strike, he dies in his sleep.
Papa learns of Kambili and Jaja’s lie and brings them back to Enugu, where he punishes them for “walking into sin” by pouring boiling water on their feet. Political strife intensifies in Enugu. Papa’s friend and the editor of The Standard, Ade Coker, is arrested and later killed by a package bomb. With tensions rising, Kambili and Jaja take comfort in a portrait of Papa-Nnukwu, which is gifted to Kambili by Amaka, but Papa catches them with the portrait and beats Kambili so severely that she ends up in the hospital.
In the critical care ward, Aunty Ifeoma tells Kambili’s mother that she has a responsibility to stop her husband’s violent outbursts. Aunty Ifeoma convinces Papa to let Kambili come to Nsukka, where Kambili’s crush on Father Amadi intensifies, and where Kambili begins to come out of her shell. She is crestfallen, however, when Aunty Ifeoma is fired from the university due to her liberal politics and announces that she will move to America with her children.
Soon, Mama arrives in Nsukka; Papa has beaten her again, causing her second miscarriage. Against Aunty Ifeoma’s warning, Mama takes the children back to Enugu, where Jaja grows increasingly defiant under his father’s harsh treatment. Papa also seems to grow physically weaker, breaking out in a rash on his face and unable to move the lightweight desk blocking Jaja’s door.