What audience would you recommend Dream Count to? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style? If you’ve read the author’s other works, how does this one compare?
I think this a book for people who like character-driven novels as well as women who are looking for what their life choices may have taken them. I read Purple Hibiscus and this book is equally as good as that one (which I read twice because it was such a powerful story and so beautifully written as well).
This novel is for any woman who is open minded and willing to learn about what it is like to be from another culture. I read Americanah and this novel is as equally well written but with harder topics to cover.
This was not as satisfying to read as Americannah, alas. The strongest section was the one telling of Kadiatou’s life, in Africa (Guinea) and then in America. I think the difference between the two books was that this one tried to cover too many characters instead of digging deeper into one.
I would recommend Dream Count to readers of literary fiction and world fiction.
Jhumpa Lahiri is another author who writes about the immigrant experience in America. Jhumpa’s use of language in her books is outstanding!
I have read Half a Yellow Sun and Americanah. Half a Yellow Sun was too much about war for my taste. I like stories set during war time, but ones that have it more in the background as compared to the personal relationships between the characters. I really liked Americanah because I was able to view America through different eyes.
An interesting read that takes on some of the same issues is the recently published Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, also Nigerian-American. It is NOT a murder mystery! Okorafor mentions Adichie in her novel. I loved it.
I thought this was a very powerful novel; very thought provoking and the language was so rich. Felt that while her characters had their “public” side she also described their inner worlds effectively so as the reader I could appreciate the richness of their lives, particularly bridging two very different cultures. Always enjoy Adichie’s descriptions of what it feels like to be an immigrant in this country.
Another book I liked was Scatterling’s by Resoketswe Mananzhe, a young South African writer. she also talked about race and bridging cultures. Thank you to JLPen77 for the suggestion above!
I have read several of Adichie’s books, so I expected a good novel. It is more than that - I was grabbed from the very first page. The four women whose stories are told are so very human even though they come from different places. This book would be an excellent choice for a book group discussion and it would also be a good choice for a women’s studies course.
I would recommend this book to readers who like lifestyle comparaisons from people living in a different country. I enjoyed Americanah and it seems that book was talking more about the difference in cultures from an African woman point of view who just moved to the United States. In Dream Count, there were more African references than American ones.