Another great novel by Chimamamda Ngozi Adichie.
It’s about 4 women, their struggles and joys. Highly recommend.

An absolutely Phenomenal book!! Chimamanda Adichie raises the bar yet again! I would rate this book an 8/10

I liked how the book was quite realistic and down to earth, not sprinkled with fairytales or an expected ending. I liked the detailing of each character (both main and supporting), the intertwined stories and most especially I liked the way knowledge and facts were mixed with fiction. I not only enjoyed the story narrated, I also learnt a lot of new things .

Although there were rare times that I felt some of the issues or supporting characters being described were a bit too in-depth and it made me get bored every now and then while reading the book.

But in all the book was quite a breath of fresh air and it comes highly recommended 👍

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s latest novel, Dream Count, tells the story of four African women of varying economic and social backgrounds. The book starts at the time of the pandemic but most of the women’s stories take place in the years leading up to 2020. Adichie has created four vibrant characters each searching for love and meaning in their lives while also trying to understand their families, history and culture. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love the idea of a dream count.
How many dreams were fulfilled? What happened to those unrealized? What would we learn about our lives if when looking back we could really see and understand the choices we’ve made?. Or try to figure out what we might do differently?. This book does that in such a complete way, I was mesmerized by how it read. I felt a kinship with the characters despite how different their life experiences were from mine. It’s approach was unique and succeeded beautifully in what it was trying to portray.

Dream Count is written from the point of view of four characters. Three of them, Chiamaka, Zikora, and Omelogor are all about forty something.. They are well educated and affluent. Aside from years of friendship, what they have in common is how unlucky in love they’ve been. The fourth character (who I found most compelling) was Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper. She is an immigrant who came from a small village in Africa who is now raising her daughter in America.

The characters have time for reflection because of the isolation of the Pandemic. Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. She comes from a wealthy family who enable her to keep this profession regardless of how successful she is. Of the four women, she has an openminded view of the world and the most generous heart. However, she has become involved with a number of men (who can figure?), all very different in character, goals, and personality but none of them right for her. In some instances, I cheered when a boyfriend bit the dust but others were harder to fathom.

One might say Zikora has had the same bad luck with men but she is much more bound up than Chiamaka. Zikora is also well educated— a lawyer— but her self worth is wrapped up in the traditional goal of finding a husband and having children. We have a birdseye view of how that is working for her.

Omelogor, Chiamaka’s cousin is definitely her own person. She works in finance in Nigeria and is wealthy, self confident, successful and has figured out how to game the system to her advantage. As powerful as she is, Omelogor also begins to look at her life wondering how well she knows herself.

The Katiadou story was the most compelling. When reading it, the names reminded me of the tragic Amadou Diallo story. He was an innocent African man who was shot 42 times by New York City police. His mother’s name was Katiadou. I wasn’t totally wrong, Adiche did base this character’s experience on a real event but it was one much more recent —a situation demonstrating how uneven justice may be applied to women, with respect to race and class, in particular.

But, to back up a bit, I found the storyline about her life before she came to America so compelling, I had to remind myself to breathe.

We’ve waited ten years for a book from this complex and beautiful writer. Adiche’s Americanah still heads my list of favorite books. If you are looking for a book about complex women and don’t mind some political thought woven through, this is the book for you.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read the advanced review copy and write an honest review.

What a story! This book is so much more than the characters inside. It is an epic tale about women and relationships and life. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I hope to see this as a book club selection, as there is a lot to discuss.

I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about this book. I'll start with the good. The descriptions of people and places are rich, the human drama relatable. The characters are distinct and memorable. Zikora’s mother especially sticks with me. The descriptions of place, especially Kadiatou’s origins and Omelogor’s affluent, independent lifestyle and her glorious intellect, are quite riveting.

The bad: so much cruelty. The men are uniformly cold, selfish, and sexist, but the women, particularly in the first half of the book, are mean to each other, even the friends! I almost gave up reading, thinking, what is the point of all this coldness? It's more balanced in the second half. Also, this isn’t a novel. It’s a series of character portrayals. I didn’t see any character arcs. Only Kadiatou’s is a story. The most disappointing was Chia, who begins and ends the book lacking agency, still drifting and self-negating.

Ms. Adichie's author note talks about Kadiatou's story being inspired by a crime committed against a hotel worker in New York City, May of 2011. Adichie wanted to explore a “significant cultural moment in America.” Yes, that’s good. But was that the reason she wrote the book, and she invented other characters to support this one?

This was such an interesting, attention grabbing book. Very interesting perspectives on relationships and cultures. I loved learning all the various names of the characters and the food. I also enjoyed the travel descriptions. Amazing story by a wonderful storyteller. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

What a fine writer she is. This enormously enjoyable saga of four women ranges widely - seriously, incisively, comically, perceptively - and draws wonderful portraits of both women and men of various races, ages and classes. It wields politics and emotions, experiences and knowledge. But best of all it points up so much about how men and women interact. Whether dealing with intimate relationships, or violent ones, or power structures, it’s always savvy and smart but also incredibly readable.
I was sorry to leave the conversation which felt like it could have continued on much longer. This in lieu of a plot. Ideally I would have liked both, but there was plenty here to satisfy and enlighten.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Knopf Publishing for the ARC of Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

It may have been ten years since her last novel, but Ms. Adichie's powerful voice and sense of character and description are as strong as ever in Dream Count - a story of four interconnected women sharing pieces of their lives during the loneliness of the pandemic. Each of the characters has a different story to tell, but each still has a quality of feminism to it, especially as it relates to the relationships between mothers and daughters. I think many will agree that Kadiatou's story is the powerhouse of the novel, but I found such poignancy in the ways Zikora sees her mother by the end of her own story. I found depth in the ways in which women are expected to be sacrificed for or blamed by men in relationships that may even seem healthy without proper reflection or interference of those who know you better.

This novel is character driven, and feels like four separate stories where the others may touch down briefly in a disconnected narrative. To some, this may make the progress feel slow, as often we are touching down in multiple moments across years or on one specific moment in depth, though without any real action taking place. Regardless of action, the prose is so beautiful and every sentence and word seems very particularly selected and filled with deeper meaning. It is a book worth taking your time on, to enjoy slowly. While the stories are not exactly happy, they are real, and given the pandemic setting, sometimes knowing things were real is how we got through those days of being distanced in the unknown.

Be sure to read the author's note at the end to better understand Ms. Adichie's motivations for Dream Count. I think it adds a lot in reflection to the overall stories if that piece is saved until the end.

Amazing!! Adichie is a masterclass and in her own league. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and already know it will be one if 2025 fave releases.

Dream Count contains elements that readers may find triggering; I will include a content warning at the end of this review.

Four African women whose lives are both interconnected and varied take center stage here. Chia born into a wealthy family is a travel writer. She does more traveling than writing. We see her struggles from the past and during the Covid lockdown. Her story is a testimony that wealth doesn't solve every problem. Kadiatou's story was heartbreaking and riveting. Her section is by far the strongest in the novel. Her story is based on true events so stick around for the author's note. Omelogar is Chia's best friend, and her perspective and opinions are unique in this group of women. I found her featured advice column for men brilliant. Zikora is Chia's cousin, and her story gives an in-depth look at the expectations of motherhood, familial bonds, and relationships.

The elegant prose demands to be savored. I'm typically a fast reader, but this novel required me to slow down and mull these events over. I love books that make me think hard and this one accomplished that. Many women will see glimpses of themselves in this book.

This novel would benefit from being more streamlined it meanders in places and loses momentum. It's not at all unpleasant to read, but there are lulls. This may cause some readers to give up too soon and that is unfortunate because this novel feels important.

The atmosphere is heavy with hard truths. The importance of novels like this cannot be overstated. I kept thinking what a thought-provoking book club read this would make. There are endless opportunities for discussion within these pages.

Adichie's gift for luscious prose is undeniable. It's easy to imagine this book being on many must read lists for 2025. It has certainly proved to be unforgettable for me. Absolutely worth the wait.

**Content Warning**
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Covid
mutilation
death of a child and spouse
rape

Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing for the Advance Readers Copy. These are my unbiased opinions.

In "Dream Count", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie takes a glaring look at the lives of four Nigerian and Nigerian-American women in the present day and the complex ways their lives and stories are interwoven.

Told across separate sections and perspectives, Adichie introduce us first to Chiamaka, a young Nigerian woman living in the US whose privileged background and family support has allowed her to live the life as a freelance travel writer. Her present boyfriend Darnell is simultaneously resents her background while indulging in it, and as we learn more about Chiamaka's past, see the different men who have woven their way in out of her life and how her own identity has changed with them. Zikora, Chiamaka's close friend, follows next and she is forced to come to an abrupt reality of life as a single mother when her then-partner Kwame disappears from her life after finding out she's pregnant. She grapples with juggling a demanding career as a corporate lawyer with her new identity and having to rely on her mother for support.

Kadiatou works as Chiamaka's housekeeper and we learn of her difficult life - beginning with losing her sister as a child in Guinea, her journey to seek asylum in the US as a young woman, and her own journey into motherhood without the support of a partner. An unthinkable crime is committed against her and she's unwillingly pushed into the forefront of a highly publicized case - one that causes her to lose both her livelihood and her anonymity. And finally, Omelogur, Chiamaka's cousin in Nigeria, also has her strong and fiercely independent forefront stripped away as an unexpected betrayal brings to light her own vulnerabilities and emotions.

From the very opening pages, I became heavily invested into these four women and their stories in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with their differing situations and voices, Adichie pulls out the difficult themes of womanhood and motherhood; the complicated interplay of race and class; the pursuit of dreams and passions; and the ever-evolving search for one's identity and voice, especially in the context of a romantic relationship. While I found each of these women to be relatable in different ways, I found Kadiatou's story especially powerful, especially as she was based off the story of Nafissatou Diallo, who became known on an international basis because of the actions of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the IMF, in 2011. Adichie's prose is as beautiful and descriptive as possible, and she's crafted four larger-than-life protagonists in this deceptively short novel.

Very much a recommended read when "Dream Count" is published in March 2025!

This book is about 4 African women, 3 from Nigeria and one from Guinea. They all either live in the United States or have had more than a casual relationship with it. The 3 Nigerian women are in their 40's, are unmarried, and are successful or financially well-off or both. The book is about the relationship of these 4 women to each other and to their relationships with men, which could be described as interesting and unsuccessful.
The plot, to the extent that there is one, is about the rape of the woman from Guinea by a Frenchmen. She is a hotel worker and he rapes her in his hotel room. She subsequently reports him and a criminal case is being built against him and ultimately dropped. (In the afterword the author explains that the character is based on a real character who was raped.)
The goodness/greatness of this book is in the depiction of the 4 women, in their friendship, in how they think and act, and not coincidentally the role that men play in their lives. There is also much truthful criticism of America, wokeness, and other subjects.
I have not encountered a book about 4 women, of any nationality, who remain unmarried inn their 40's, are successful and thoughtful and I was glad I could share time with them. As the author says in her afterword: The point of art is go look at our world and be moved by it, and then to engage in a series of attempts at clearly seeing thee world, interpreting it, questioning it. The author has succeeded.

Oh my …
“Dream Count” is remarkably intimate…. tender, tough, and unflinching. Chimamanda’s elegant style caught me from the first page. I was hypnotized by it.
We feel at home with these stories. Beginning with the familiar pandemic setting, most of us know a Chia, a Zikora, a Kadiatou, or a Omelogor.
We have felt the same emotions as these women.
[love, loss, grief, desire, regret, betrayal, unworthiness, loneliness, fear, anger, sadness, failure, guilt, shame, insecurity, humiliation, injustice, confusion, etc.]
So while reading the ‘daisy-chain-of-interconnected-stories’, we join in….reflecting, relating, and connecting with these four women with their distinctive voices.
Each feels the basic human need to belong.
The four women we hang out with have dreams — unfulfilled expectations — memories of letting go — life changes, success and failures, suffering, death, and other losses. They each have important stories to tell about uncovering their authentic selves.
Each woman has confronted the curves that life is thrown at them in her own way.
Be it from displacement, isolation, immigration, maternal devotion, rich or poor — Adichie reminds us of just how heavily history and cultural identity weighs on families, on women, on mothers, on friendships, on sexuality, on gender, being African, on being a Black woman in America.

Chia, principal protagonist, begins….
She’s a travel writer who is stuck home alone in Maryland during the lockdown. Sometimes she avoided the news, other times she was swallowed up by it. There were Zoom calls. Group calls. Wine drinking. Sleeping. Sound familiar?
There was also ‘looking back’ (regrets)….relationships with men - (fantasies), breakups - lessons learned —
College days, family details, friendship-complexities- etc.

Chia’s best friend is Omelogar. Her favorite cousin is Zikora. Each of their personalities and stories couldn’t be more different from one another — but it was Chia who was the glue between them..

Kadiatou, is a Guinean immigrant/ housekeeper who must reconcile a devastating nightmare—inspired by a true story that’s
Chimamanda shares a little more about in the Author’s Notes.

“Dream Count” is beautiful, brutal, mesmerizing, and draws you in from the first breathtaking sentence and doesn’t let go.
[Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Africa, African Literature]

I paused for days meditating on this excerpt:
“I thought: I’m growing old. I’m growing old and the world has changed, and I have never been truly known.
A rush of raw melancholy brought tears to my eyes. This is all there is, this fragile breathing in and out. Where have all the years gone, and have I made the most of life? But what is the final measure for making the most of life, and how would I know if I have?”

Me:
I just few back home to California from a Kauai vacation. (46 wedding anniversary with my husband).
With very clear memories of the airplane — I had a little chuckle over this next excerpt:
Chia’s mother made me laugh. She visited her daughter in America, but didn’t stay long. She didn’t think America was civilized.
“Everything is ‘Do it Yourself’.
Everything is too casual. Look at their airlines, their first class is a rubbish. They don’t know how to provide service with finesse. Even the way they talk, ‘Let’s go and grab lunch’. How can you be grabbing your lunch?”
Oh, I laughed. Chia’s mother had a point!

A thought to ponder….from The Author’s Notes:
“Novels are never really about what they are about. At least for this writer. ‘Dream Count’ is, yes, about the interlinked desires of four women, but ….
(read the rest yourself)….
I felt teary!

I love you Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Thank you for adding much richness, depth, insight, an experience of womanhood, sisterhood, humanhood to my life.

Deeply human ….. fiercely affecting powerful stories.

Chimamanda does it again. Dream Count followed for women and their journey through womanhood, the highs and the lows. I enjoyed it like most of her books, because while it followed the contemporary lives they lived it also explores the different themes feminism, cultural appropriation, me too and others. I especially loved Omelogors chapter and her dissatisfaction with the American idea that their beliefs are the facts for the whole world :/ another banger from one of my fave authors. Don’t call it a comeback!

This is a novel about four women, all African and all connected. We open with Chia, who is our primary narrator, during the early days of COVID lockdown. She is living in Maryland but is originally from Nigeria and has traveled widely in her career as a freelance travel writer. Unable to go anywhere, she takes the time she must stay at home to reflect on her relationships and her regrets related to them. Then there's her friend Zikora, a successful lawyer who has wanted to get married and have children more than anything and who finds herself abandoned by the man she thought was her soulmate when she tells him she's pregnant. There's Omelogor, Chia's cousin, who has made a career working in Nigerian banking (and made a lot of money by being involved in money laundering), who is now trying to help other women succeed in business and fending off pushy relatives who pressure her to marry and have a family. And finally there's Kadiatou, who came to the United States with her daughter after being widowed and who brings the other three women together when she is sexually assaulted at her job as a hotel housekeeper. We get to spend time with all of these women and to experience their heartaches, their frustrations with racism and misogyny, and their hopes and dreams. Though they all have very different personalities, what they have in common is their strength and boldness -- these are no shrinking violets. I gave it 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published March 4, 2025.

Dream Count is extraordinary story of four interconnected Nigerian women, each with unique backgrounds and aspirations.

A long winded character driven tale. Beautiful writing but painful content. You lost me at Omelegor. Her chapters drained my will to move on. DNF at 70%. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, let me give a big thanks to Netgalley and Knopf publishing for providing an advanced DRC. I am humbled to be among the earliest readers. In her newest offering Ms. Adichie has masterfully delivered an excellent exploration on the complexity of womenhood as experienced, explained and expressed through friendship, identity, belonging, love, loneliness, and longing.

And she does so in her signature style of exquisite prose mixing and remixing the personal with the collective political. Her writing is always equipped with quips about politics in America, Nigeria and elsewhere. These sharp observations are always well placed in the dialogue leading to believable and realistic characterizations. The conversations that are described and delivered in this book ring authentic.

Through four women, each having their own section and turn at the narrative, a wonderful story is born. Chia is the main protagonist and comes from a well to do family that has allowed her to live a life of leisure. She is a travel writer, doing more traveling than writing, and it is through her we get humorous tidbits about various cities and cultures around the world.

However, it is Kadiotou, Chia's housekeeper, whose story resonates deeply and contributes to the emotional highs of the narrative. In fact, Kadiotou's journey plays a pivotal role in delivering a powerful conclusion to the novel, transforming what could have been a devastating ending into something delectable.

Zikora is the cousin of Chia and is unlucky in her pursuit of love. She gives birth to a child and the father just drops out of their life, unexpectedly and really unexplained. Finally, there is Omelogor, the shady banking executive involved in corrupt embezzlement but spreading her “brazen theft” brazenly.

She weaves these four characters seamlessly into what I believe will be a celebrated work of fiction. Well, why not five stars? I believe the emotional high of Kadiotou’s narrative exposes the absence of gripping accounts from the other women. Book will be published March 4, 2025 and yes, it will be on many best of ‘25 lists!!’

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a haunting and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between personal dreams and societal realities. In this compelling story, Adichie delves into the complex internal landscapes of her characters as they grapple with the burdens of ambition, identity, and cultural expectations. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Nigeria, the narrative follows a young woman whose dreams—both literal and metaphorical—are tightly bound to her struggle for self-definition within a rapidly changing world. The story is a meditation on the weight of dreams, both pursued and unfulfilled, and the tension between personal desires and the larger forces that shape our lives.

Adichie's prose is, as always, crisp and evocative, drawing readers into the emotional and psychological world of her protagonist. The author skillfully navigates themes of self-discovery, the meaning of success, and the often painful process of reconciling one’s aspirations with the expectations of family and society. The story's richness lies not only in its exploration of these universal themes but also in Adichie’s ability to present them through the lens of Nigerian culture, bringing a distinctly African perspective to the discussion of dreams and their potential to either liberate or constrain. Dream Count is a testament to Adichie’s exceptional storytelling ability, offering readers a profound and introspective look at the dreams that shape our identities and our futures.

In summary, Dream Count is a beautifully written, emotionally resonant story that showcases Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s talent for creating complex, relatable characters and exploring the deeper currents of human experience. It is a must-read for fans of her work and anyone interested in stories that blend personal reflection with broader cultural and social commentary.