In 1977 I spent a year working in rural Nigeria with the Tiv people, so reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie brought back many memories. While living in Nigeria I found one of the best, and only, ways to understand the local people was to read books by local authors. One of my favorites, and certainly the best known, was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Both books describe the Igbo people and the effect of colonization and modernization on their culture. The opening sentence of Purple Hibiscus reflects the influence of the earlier book: "Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion..."
Purple Hibiscus is the coming-of-age story of a 15-year-old Igbo girl, Kambili, set in southern Nigeria. The story is good and the writing itself is even better. The descriptions of the land, the people, and their customs are wonderful. Kambili describes, and I remember, the taste of fufu - pounded yam - dipped in thick tasty soup, the inconvenience of gasoline shortages, the feel of sand everywhere when the harmattan blows, the scary feeling of dealing with an illegitimate military government, and the custom of dashing - bribing or giving a gift - to everyone from the police to a neighbor.
If you want to peek into another culture, to try to understand a little what it means to be an African, I strongly recommend this book. The author has a new book out now, Americanah, so she's getting a lot of attention. Purple Hibiscus, her first book, seemed to improve with each chapter, the writing getting stronger and stronger. If this pattern holds her newest book should be great.
