Jefferson Book Club Reads “Purple Hibiscus” for November
The next Jefferson Book Club meeting will discuss the book “Purple Hibiscus: A Novel” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. About the book:
Fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound. Her wealthy Catholic father, under whose shadow Kambili lives, while generous and politically active in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home.
When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili’s father sends her and her brother away to stay with their aunt, a University professor, whose house is noisy and full of laughter. There, Kambili and her brother discover a life and love beyond the confines of their father’s authority. The visit will lift the silence from their world and, in time, give rise to devotion and defiance that reveal themselves in profound and unexpected ways. This is a book about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred, between the old gods and the new. (description from the author’s website)
As a further resource, listen to the “The Danger of a Single Story,” a TED Talk by author Adichie. Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
Please join us:
Thursday, November 19th
Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Room 200B Scott (behind the fish tank)
If you have not yet picked up a copy of the book, the University Bookstore offers it at a discounted rate and the Library has a copy for loan.
Please feel free to bring your lunch to the meeting, and please let Joanne Gotto know if you plan on attending:
Joanne L. Gotto, EdM
215-955-8769
joanne.gotto@jefferson.edu