Shortlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize, this is a haunting tale of Africa and an adolescence undergoing tremendous changes. It will appeal to fans of Alice Walker and J.M. Coetzee. "Political brutality and domestic violence, religion and witchcraft all merge with subtle force in this memorable novel" Hugo Hamilton

A promising new voice from Nigeria delivers an exquisite and powerful first novel about a 15-year-old Nigerian woman who is awakening at a time when both her country and family are on the cusp of change.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. Her first novel 'Purple Hibiscus' was published in 2003 and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her second novel 'Half of a Yellow Sun' won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her work has been selected by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and the BBC Short Story Awards and has appeared in various literary publications, including Zoetrope and The Iowa Review.

'A beautiful and often harrowing story.' Observer Books of the Year 'A sensitive and touching story of a child exposed too early to religious intolerance and the uglier side of the Nigerian state.' J. M. Coetzee 'Political brutality and domestic violence, religion and witchcraft all merge with subtle force in this memorable novel. Chimammanda Ngozi Adichie uses childhood innocence to write Nigerian history with the eye of a family insider.' Hugo Hamilton 'Purple Hibiscus is the best debut I've read since Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.' Jason Cowley, Times journalist, literary editor of the New Statesman 'This debut ensnares the reader from the first page and lingers in the memory!in soft, searing voice, Adichie examines the complexities of family, faith and country through the haunted but hopeful eyes of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood.' Publishers Weekly