Dream Count: A Novel

Written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Narrated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sandra Okuboyejo, A'rese Emokpae and Janina Edwards

• NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST

A searing, exquisite new novel by the bestselling and award-winning author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—the story of four women and their loves, longings, and desires

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin Omelogor is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.

Dream Count is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s searing, unforgettable story of these four women—a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 4, 2025
• ISBN: 9780593914847

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE grew up in Nigeria. Her work has been translated into more than fifty-five languages. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; Half of a Yellow Sun, which was the recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Best of the Best” award; Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck and the essays We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Her most recent work is an essay about losing her father, Notes on Grief, and Mama’s Sleeping Scarf, a children’s book written as Nwa Grace-James. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Reviews for Dream Count

[ccayne_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a fan of Adichie but this book disappointed me. She says it came from the death of her mother and how it wrecked her. I didn't see that connection in any of the characters. The strongest, and least developed, mother daughter relationship was with Kadiatou and Binta. The writing is beautiful and that was what kept me going. In addition the tension around Kadiatou's fate was a propulsive element.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is a beautifully written portrayal of four African women whose lives intersect. It starts with Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in the US. She tells the story of her “dream count” which includes her past failed relationships. Zikora, her best friend, practices law in Washington, DC. She must deal with a significant betrayal of trust. Omelogor is Chiamaka's cousin who lives in Nigeria. She is a talented banker dealing with corporate and governmental corruption who must examine her conscience regarding her own role. The fourth woman, Kadiatou, is an immigrant from Guinea, who initially works as Chiamaka's cook. Chiamaka helps her get a job in hotel service, where she must deal with an act of aggression by a wealthy VIP staying at the hotel.

The novel is nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and it addresses many women’s topics, such as female friendships, mother-daughter relationships, and rationalizations for remaining in unhealthy relationships. Other themes include race, class, cultural barriers, power dynamics, aging, and ethics. It explores the complexities involved in truly knowing another person. It is character driven with little plot. The characters are not always likeable, but they seem realistic. The stories of the four women are skillfully woven together, and I found it easy to become immersed. An author’s note is included at the end, which explains the inspiration for the book and what is real versus fictional, which I very much appreciated.

4.5

[jscape2000 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A searing novel told through five women living through the pandemic. The catalyzing event in the narrative is when a woman, an immigrant housekeeper who is the least powerful of the five, is raped by a powerful guest at the hotel where she works.

The rest of the women's stories fade to background noise for me. This one's degree, that one's latest boyfriend. But don't discount them, because they form a tapestry that explores a version of the American experience that I haven't seen handled with such multifaceted attention and care and disappointment.

[kcshankd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I ended up caring more about these women then I thought I would. Four related sides of a tale, their sprint/drift through life, and how the same events can result in very different reactions. Seeking love, or not. Covid interferes. Sex in the City if the women were from Nigeria or Guinea

[nivramkoorb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the 2nd book that I have read by Adichie. It has been 12 year since that book. This book is similar to Americanah in that it deals with Nigerian women who are immigrants to the US but still have a strong connection to Nigeria. I find her focus on upper class Nigerians(with one significant exception) interesting because we have a tendency to see books about Africans as always about the lower class. The books delves into the minds of the 4 main characters and much of it deals with their relationship to their families and their struggles with male. relationships. The book is a strong indictment on Nigerian and Guinea men along with the corruption in Nigeria. I enjoyed the characters and the writing. I found it educational and that it is a very worthwhile read for those that do not read about this group of people. It also reminds me how we in America do not have the proper empathy on how other countries view us and themselves. The world doesn't always revolve around the USA.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dream Count explores the lives of four single African women in mid-life, and their relationships with men and with each other. Each grew up in their home country (three in Nigeria, one in Guinea), and have spent significant periods of time living in the United States. All but one are looking for a stable partnership, if not marriage.

While each woman’s story is affected by the covid pandemic, their narratives move fluidly between past and present and it requires concentration to understand the time frame and connections to events previously reported by another. I admit that while the women’s lives had elements of interest, I wasn’t captivated. Chia’s life seemed superficial and her career aspirations unrealistic. Zikora’s days were fraught with tension and negativity, and I found Omelogor’s lifestyle and attitude off-putting. I was most affected by the story of Kadiatou, Chia’s Guinean housekeeper. Her childhood and journey to the US were difficult, and it took some time for her to find stability only to become a victim of sexual assault. The resolution of her storyline was unexpected but quite moving.

Chiimanda Ngozi Adichie is an incredible writer, and this novel is no exception. It just wasn’t as immersive as her previous work.

[pgchuis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Set at the time of the Covid pandemic, this tells the story of the lives (mainly the romantic lives) of four Nigerian women. Three of them (Chiamaka, Zikora, and Omelogor) are wealthy and Christian, and the fourth (Kadiatou), whose story is by far the most interesting, is poor and Muslim. What happens to Kadiatou just before the pandemic is clearly (as the author acknowledges) based on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, and this also made her story feel very different from the others.

I found all four women frustrating for different reasons - don't be so naive! don't put up with this terrible man (over and over again)! Presumably the author knows of what she writes, but I found their attitude to romantic relationships very dated - they expected to be given gifts, they adopted submissive roles, they felt the need to get married and/or have a child to validate themselves.

Recommended, but it is Kadaitou's story which will remain with me.