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Purple Hibiscus
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Book Review

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Plot Summary of Purple Hibiscus
""Purple Hibiscus" is a complex tale of Kambili, a young girl growing up in Nigeria, in between the old "pagan" ways and her Catholic upbringing. Her life is structured and ruled by her strict Catholic father, however a trip to visit her Auntie in another town shows her another way of living. Kambili has trouble accepting this alternative lifestyle and feels torn between the two. With the help of her brother, auntie, cousins, and a priest, she begins to see other ways of thinking and acting than her father expects. The book also highlights the injustices that have taken place in Nigeria."
Louisa Eggleton, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Purple Hibiscus
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - religious influences
Inside culture (main char) - Black
Culture clash? - family young v. old guard
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society) - African Black
If story of urban/rural... - Small town life
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes
Age group of kid(s) in story: - grade school

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - Black
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - journalist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 (an average amount)
Africa Yes
Kind of Africa: - Black Africa

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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Eshaya Moya - Wind Spirits by Jane Flowers
Bukavu by Rukhsar Sharif
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche


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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Louisa Eggleton  

SCHOLARS:


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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