Perhaps not quite as good as her later "Half of a Yellow Sun", but this is another excellent novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - even if the Chinese shop assistant in Waterstones doubted that it was for me - "Normally ladies buy this one"!It's the story of a 15-year-old girl, Kambili, from a wealthy Nigerian family. Her father is a brave opponent of corruption, a fearless newspaper publisher, and a great benefactor. But he is also tyrannically autocratic, scheduling every minute of the day for Kambili and her older brother, and fiercely, violently punishes the slightest misdemeanour. He's also a fanatically religious Roman Catholic, and the family is forced to spend hours every day in prayer. In this environment Kambili is crushed.
But when she and her brother go to stay with her aunt and her family during a military coup a new world opens up to her, and slowly she blossoms.
It's very powerful, touching, and gripping stuff.
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