Purple Hibiscus
a novel by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
4th Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by 4th Estate 2004
This ebook published by 4th Estate in 2016
Copyright © Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2004
PS section copyright © Clare Garner 2005, except ‘Tiny Wonders’ copyright © Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2003
PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007189885
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007383696
Version: 2019-01-09
From the reviews of Purple Hibiscus:
‘One of the finest debut novels of recent years, a complex and compelling account of a 15-year-old girl’s sexual awakening and religious oppression…It is a novel as revealing as Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and as punchy and characterful as Monica Ali’s Brick Lane’
Evening Standard
‘Perceptive characterisation and an evocative portrayal of a fast-changing country mark this Orange-shortlisted novel out from the crowd’
Guardian
‘Assured and evocative, it touches on domestic violence and religious fundamentalism with subtlety and sensitivity. Surely a tale for our times’
Daily Mail
‘With writing marked by infinite wisdom and heart-breaking generosity, Adichie draws the African struggle for a modern identity into the heart of family life…Balanced yet passionate, hers is an inspirational new voice and Purple Hibiscus a book to read at all costs’
Glasgow Herald
‘This is a novel that brings you into the heart of private passions. But it is also a novel that strays into political waters and does so with some subtlety’
Natasha Walter, Vogue
‘Adichie has an enviable mastery of narrative composition. Her characters are vivid. Her pacing is excellent. She has a keen sense of irony…Into her enthralling tale Adichie weaves complex themes…The result is a story which is racy but complex and stimulating. It grips the reader from start to finish. I could not put it down’
Irish Times
‘The simplicity of the transformation tale – the stuff of many oldfashioned school stories – is made more powerful by the plot’s twists and surprises and by the endearing and moving characters…Its cleverly contrived naivety opens the reader to a world of feeling containing meaning’
Sunday Times
‘This debut novel, in the best tradition of the coming-of-age novel, serves as a reminder of what serious, committed storytelling can do…Adichie draws us inside Kambili’s world through her rich descriptions of physical and domestic environments, her artful deployment of suspense and drama’
Michèle Roberts, New Statesman
‘Immensely powerful’
The Times
‘A wonderful first novel…Chimamanda’s prose is strikingly rich and evocative in this touching and accomplished debut’
INK Magazine
‘An intoxicating story that is at once distinctly feminine, African and universal’
OBSERVER
For
Professor James Nwoye Adichie
and
Mrs. Grace Ifeoma Adichie,
my parents, my heroes, ndi o ga-adili mma.
Table of Contents