Book Review: Dream Count

Dream Count
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Review by Renata

Adichie’s first novel in over a decade is an account of the hopes and dreams that shape the lives of four women – Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou and Omelogor. Three of the women are wealthy, educated Nigerians; Guinean Kadiatou works as Chiamaka’s housekeeper.  Though some of the characters are idealists, even romantics, the book is more concerned with counting the costs of their dreams of romance, marriage, motherhood, careers, and even the cliched American Dream. 

Told in novella-like sections that shift between first-person and third-person limited perspectives, there is little here in the way of propulsive plot (with the exception of Kadiatou’s section, which is inspired by the high-profile sexual assault allegations made against IMF head, Dominique Strauss Kahn). Instead, Adichie uses an intimate, even confessional tone to create immersive portraits of four women seeking a clearer understanding of their lives.  Happy endings are no given in a novel that highlights how dreams can trap and constrain as well as fulfill.