Could improve sound quality

The book is very impressive, I could not stop listening until I finished. Still out of words... The only thing I did not like was sound quality. The narrator was good, great dramatic reading, but in the recording we can often hear her swallow (which can be annoying), as well as people coughing on the background.

28 people found this helpful

Great Story

Where does Purple Hibiscus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I liked Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun much better, but this book, once you get into it, is really good.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the fact that Igboland plays a prominent role in Adichie's stories. I'm from Tanzania, but Adichie makes me feel like I now know Nsukka and Enugu, though I've never been. It's refreshing to hear names and places that are historically accurate, and not generic. The story does an excellent job of telling a story, the foundations of which could be found in any culture, and making it a distinctly African story. Great job!

Did Lisette Lecat do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

There were definitely times when her South African accent came through or when her pronunciation of certain Igbo words were a bit off, but it won't be noticeable to most listeners.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it on a cross-country road trip, so, yes.

20 people found this helpful

Great story, bad narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love all of Chimamanda's stories they are so wonderfully written and tell beautiful stories, but I hate the way she voices these books. I prefer Adjoa Andoh, she's always spectacular!

What didn’t you like about Lisette Lecat’s performance?

I could tell when she was taking breathes, her mouth made a noise like it was wet, and she didn't voice the characters very well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I really can't finish this book right now. I'm going to read something else first because it's really annoying to listen too although I enjoy the story.

11 people found this helpful

A good book, a bit too dramatized

The narrator was awesome, not only reading but using various techniques like voice modulation, pause, tone changes to add more value to the story. The story was very much focused on the dramatic side of the family's experiences, but all in all this is part of life.

10 people found this helpful

Amazing story!

This story transported me to west Africa. It is an incredible story about complicated family relationships, politics and religion. I love to the audio version particularly for the pronunciation of the Igbo words and phrases that are sprinkled throughout the book.

6 people found this helpful

Fanatical Catholic father = troubling behavior

While I adore Adichie's prose and am fascinated by the glimpse into Nigerian culture, I found the character of the father so polarized in his public vs. private behavior and his horrific treatment of his family hard to believe and hard to take.
As to the recording, the narrator's breathing was often so clearly heard as to be distracting. I loved her performance and attribute this to poor production technique.

6 people found this helpful

powerful story of love, sacrifice & family

After loving "Americanah" as our community read in Arlington, MA, I rushed to keep the feeling going with this earlier book by Adichie. What a cornucopia of emotion and human experience, adroitly crafted into a compelling tale you won't be able to put down.

5 people found this helpful

A father demanding to win at all costs

Where does Purple Hibiscus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I found it hard to get going in the first chapters, but the story eventually grabbed me and at some point brought me to tears. Unlike a father lacking creativity of influencing his children to do better, it was refreshing to see a woman headed home thriving in difficult conditions, whilst she filled her home with love, she made her children raise the bar not out of fear but because the knew they have it within them to rise above, she natured their varying talents and promoted self expression though with limited resources. A story of parallels of religion, hypocrisy and love, poverty and abundance, a brief history lesson on Nigeria's political culture.

What other book might you compare Purple Hibiscus to and why?

I think because i have also read There was a country by Chinua Achebe, which to a certain extent complements the historical references to Nsuka, i found myself relating to Purple Hibiscus especially around the government, school leaders and activists, in Nsuka, as well as the Igbo people.

What does Lisette Lecat bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There are great books i haven't finished because of poor performance, she may have made rare mistakes in places but she performed very well such that i could identify characters just based on her voice delivery.

5 people found this helpful

A white woman reads a story about a black family.

I was disappointed that a white South African woman reads this moving story about a black Nigerian family. Could they not have found a woman of African descent?

4 people found this helpful

Distressing and Beautiful

Lissette LeCat is one of my favorite readers, and she does full justice to this early novel by Adichie about the terrorized family of a democratic activist and industrialist in Nigeria. LeCat is the reader of all the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" novels, and it's because of her narration that I love them all. "Purple Hibiscus" is a much sadder and alarming story, set during one of the many military coups that disrupted Nigeria's 20th century post-Colonial efforts to steer its own course. LeCat brings a measured, respectful narrative voice to stories that involve and belong to entirely African characters. I can't endure narrators who act out their characters as if they were on stage, so I appreciate this, as I appreciate many British narrators but very few American ones. The family's terror comes at the hands of the father, the pro-democracy activist, who is a fanatical Catholic convert subject to psychotic rages when his wife or children fail to follow his strict orders about how to behave, 24/7. As the family is pushed to the breaking point, the tension in Adichie's story draws you irresistibly on to the conclusion. LeCat is good at pronouncing Igbo names and common expressions.

4 people found this helpful