Dream Count

June 2, 2025 /

Dream Count ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Dream Count is told from the point of view of four African women, three are wealthy and successful women from Nigeria, one is a hotel employee from Ghana.

Chiamaka is a travel writer from a wealthy Nigerian family, and as the book begins she is in the lockdown part of the pandemic, and is considering her shitty taste in men.

Zikora is a successful lawyer, and her section begins as she is in labor, attended by her mother, the baby’s father nowhere in sight.

Omelogor is Chiamaka’s cousin, a former banker, now intellectual studying how pornography is currently teaching youth unrealistic lessons about sex.

Kadiiatou is Chiamaka’s widowed housekeeper, who goes on to work at a luxury hotel in Washington, DC. She has come to America to raise her daughter and give her advantages she did not have.

Each section of the book tells the story of one of these women. We get their history, their strengths, and their failings. Most of the book is these little stories, and you don’t really know what the point is going to be so much as just go along for the ride. About halfway through, a devastating event occurs with the potential for horrible repercussions.

I loved this book. I have loved all of Adiche’s novels, her writing is sharp and beautiful, her female characters strong and well rounded. Her male characters are not viewed as kindly, but this is perhaps because the story is from the women’s point of view, and none of them have an easy relationship with the man/men in their life. As with her other novels, colonialism and post-colonialism are a large presence, which is not a fun topic to be sure, but one that leaves plenty of room for complicated stories and characters. Highly recommended.

20 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *