Dream Count

Through the interconnected lives of four women, the critically acclaimed author of Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah spins a mesmerising and moving study of love, happiness and the quest for fulfilment in contemporary society.

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, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until — betrayed and brokenhearted — she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, 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.

In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations on the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.

MEDIA REVIEWS

‘Quintessential Adichie: ambitious, astute and powered by an accumulation of feather-light sentences that build to devastating weight. Masterly’ Guardian

‘A big book, richly marbled with criss-crossing storylines … powered by the simple but evergreen thrill of time spent in the company of flesh and blood characters lavishly imagined. It was worth the wait'Observer

'Deeply compelling' Washington Post

‘As finely constructed and evocatively realised as the rest of Adichie’s memorable work’ Harper’s Bazaar

‘This is a book that will make your heart ache, but in the best possible way, and it cements Adichie’s reputation as a storyteller of both heft and readability’ Good Housekeeping

‘Adichie is the master of writing about feelings which are difficult to put a finger on… She often says she is preoccupied with telling the truth. How often you will read a line from Dream Count and think how utterly true it is’ London Standard

‘Blisteringly emotive… richly written and acutely observed’ I News

‘A captivating and touching exploration of love, happiness, and the pursuit of fulfilment in modern society’ Cosmopolitan

‘Satisfyingly crafted’ Daily Mail

‘Every aspect of this transfixing, intimate and astute group portrait is ablaze with scorching insights into the maddening absurdities and injustices that continue to plague women’s lives. Magnificently vital’ Starred Booklist review

‘With Dream Count, you are not simply waiting for an ending; you are eagerly anticipating what comes next, all the while dreading the climax that you know will leave you breathless’ Glamour

‘So vivid I almost felt I had lived through it myself’ Literary Review

‘Will move, entertain and enthrall’ Mail on Sunday

‘A hard-hitting story of women seeking purpose, justice and sisterhood marks a blistering return by the Nigerian novelist’ Financial Times

'Ten years in the making and worth every minute of waiting!’ Elle

‘Love, death, motherhood – it’s all here, and few can handle it as capably as Adichie’ GQ