Book Notes, Fiction # Purple Hibiscus ★★★★★ ##### by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003) --- It was extremely captivating to read. The whole thing was like.. a mood. It’s written in first person, from the point of view of a Nigerian teenage girl (15 year old Kambili) who’s been suffering from severe emotional and physical parental abuse her whole life. What struck me the most was how unbiased the story felt. How true and close it stayed to its main character. There was no attempt made at showing the abuse from any other point of view other than that of Kambili's. And since abuse was all the girl ever new, to her parental love was undistinguishable from parental abuse. The book contained no blaming and no shaming, no accusation, just love. There was also no “lesson to be learned” or anything didactic transpiring from the writing. Just the world seen from the eyes of what felt like a real, blood and flesh, human being: 15-year old Kambili. Just the fear, the self doubt, the walking on eggshells of living life with an abuser. I was left with a strong emotion at the end, enormous love for the central character which somehow (but how?) translated into self-love.