What Will You Do For Love? "Dream Count" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - book review
- Shomi Williams
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
I've been in a reading slump for most of March then tried to speed-read this book. I ultimately ended up DNFing Dream Count so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.
This book tells the story of 4 women navigating life, their careers, and the task of partnering up with a man in a society that makes finding a husband the most important thing. Chiamaka's story is written in first person and it's reflective starting around covid times, Zikora's story is written in the third person, and it shows a series of relationships she's been in, leading her to Kwame, who seems promising... at first, Omelogor is a bold pioneer, and Kadiatou is Chiamaka's house-girl whose trauma we delve into.
I was a huge Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie fan at a point. She helped to give me language for the frustrations I felt about the unfairness of womanhood, especially Nigerian womanhood, so reading Dream Count was super exciting for me... initially.
Perhaps I find the theme overused, but the pitiful search for love amongst women, is becoming a tired trope and I don't think it was explored to a satisfactory level to me. It's a relevant trope, I guess I hate that it was so pitiful, no success story, no humour to lighten the mood - I just felt so sorry for all 4 of the main characters. I think I'm going to be taking a break from the "where is your husband" genre of books about chasing love and husband-hunting in African circles. Perhaps "Bad Love" set too high a standard for me last month.
As per usual, Chimamanda's writing is great, I have always enjoyed reading her prose. And the characters she wrote are relatable, I can say I have met a version of each character she discussed, even if I wish I hadn't. There was a great sese of familiarity that her writing has created. It took me back to how relatable I found her previous book "Purple Hibiscus".
The book is initially set during covid times, which for many of us, was a time for reflection. I personally think it's a necessary point in time to document, but several of our book clubbers, weren't too keen on this - maybe it's too soon?
The unchallenged and problematic views shared by some of the characters in the book had us wondering to what degree Chimamanda related to and agreed with them. And overall we found the book to be directionless, without a clear path, or conclusion - some enjoy the exploration this provides, while others find this frustrating and even pointless. A clearer storyline would have made this a more enjoyable read for many of us.
Throughout the book, through their actions, the characters show us what they are willing to withstand to fit in. And no matter how powerful the women are in their day-to-day lives, they become really passive and victimised by the men they love. The book provides social commentary on feminist issues, but I found it to be quite defeatist regarding women's position in society under patriarchy. It would have been nice if the book presented more hope, and light.
Chimamanda is very clear about her disdain for the Western world in her book, I found this funny. You can feel the disgust in the way she describes people and customs from certain countries, especially America, made me laugh.
"Dream Count" makes us face a reality of acceptance. We just have to accept that some people are just bad, some people just have terrible ideologies and bad things happen with no consequence. That's just life and happy endings, or any conclusive ending at all, is a mercy. It also makes us take a hard look at the pressures in society, particularly Nigerian circles towards when it comes to marriage at any costs.
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