Nigeria, the setting of Purple Hibiscus and Adichie's native country, was a British colony from 1914 to 1960. Nigerian postcolonial literature includes the well-known novel Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe (1930–2013), whose work is referenced in the first line of Purple Hibiscus: "Things began to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion." The means and effects of the colonial project, the anti-colonial reaction, and the blending of cultures in a postcolonial society are all prominent features of Purple Hibiscus. Characters represent the broad range of ways that Nigerian people reacted to and adapted to the pressures of colonization. Papa embraces European culture and religion as though it is superior. His sister, Aunty Ifeoma, says he is a product of colonialism. Their father, Papa-Nnukwu, has stuck to traditional Igbo ways and religion. The rift between the two men shows the power of colonialism to divide families and communities. Aunty Ifeoma herself straddles an in-between space in which Westernized ways and Igbo traditions coexist and the tensions between them are tolerated. As a university lecturer and an independent, outspoken woman, Ifeoma also represents a more modern trend in postcolonial literature—feminism.