(From the publisher) From the outside, 15-year-old Kambili has the perfect life. She lives in a beautiful house, has a caring family, and attends an exclusive missionary school. She's completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less than perfect in her wealthy Nigerian home. Although her papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home. He looms over his family's every move, severely punishes Kambili and her older brother, Jaja, if they're not the best in their classes, and hits their mama if she disagrees with him. Home is silent and suffocating.

But everything changes once Kambili and Jaja visit Aunty Ifeoma outside the city. For the first time they experience freedom from their papa. Jaja learns to garden and work with his hands, and Kambili secretly falls in love with a young, charismatic priest.

As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, tension within the family escalates. And shy Kambili must find the strength to keep her family together after her mother commits a desperate act.

Purple Hibiscus is a stunning debut that captures the fragile beauty of a young woman's awakening at a time when both country and family are on the cusp of change.

About the Author
(From the University of Natal Web site) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977 and grew up in the university town of Nsukka where her parents worked as lecturers. She left Nigeria at 19 and moved to the United States and studied communication and political science at Connecticut State University, graduating summa cum laude.

She has had her short stories published in Canadian, British, and American journals including Prism International, Wasafiri, and the Iowa Review. Her short stories are mostly about the Nigerian immigrant experience in America and have been selected for the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association award as well as the BBC short story award. Adichie was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002. Her story set during the Nigerian civil war was selected to represent the PEN center USA in the 2003 David Wong short story contest.