I stumbled across this author about seven or eight years ago via my book club. Since then she’s gone on to be an award-winning and best-selling author. She just is amazing!! I love her. The women’s fiction and historical fiction genres are so blessed to have her. I am a great fan of her work, and always read so quickly. Last night I had the pleasure of listening to this short story on audio, the narrator really brought her work to life! I loved it. As an ‘Amazon Original Stories’ author I highly recommend this short read.

About The Book

The emotional storms weathered by a mother and daughter yield a profound new understanding in a moving short story by the bestselling, award-winning author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists.

When Zikora, a DC lawyer from Nigeria, tells her equally high-powered lover that she’s pregnant, he abandons her. But it’s Zikora’s demanding, self-possessed mother, in town for the birth, who makes Zikora feel like a lonely little girl all over again. Stunned by the speed with which her ideal life fell apart, she turns to reflecting on her mother’s painful past and struggle for dignity. Preparing for motherhood, Zikora begins to see more clearly what her own mother wants for her, for her new baby, and for herself.

This story really was an impactful one for me as a reader, and told from a very unique POV. Zikora is actually in labour with her first child, it’s an account of her rise and fall with the man she thought she loved, and that he loved her. It also showed how relationships between mothers and daughters can be hard. As always the author brilliantly touched on the cultural differences that many immigrants to the USA face. Without giving too many spoilers for a super short story, that can be read in just a few hours if that, I found it was incredibly well developed, engaging, and thought -provoking. What I found as I listened to the story is that it made me reflect and put myself in Zikora’s shoes, the author has crafted a story that many women, if not all could really understand even if they have never been in Zikora’s position. There were some touching, inspiring, and down right heart-tugging moments.

Zikora to me as a reader was in a period of transition, that every woman who decides to keep her pregnancy goes through, however it was unique for her due to the broken promises from her ex, difficult relationship with her mother, cultural differences in the USA, and a past event that happened when she was just nineteen. Overall, as I always say about Ms. Ngozi Adichie’s work, this for me was another stunning story that touches on so much reality. I highly enjoyed it 5 beautiful stars. I recommend this book to everyone who loves women’s fiction, with stories that show growth, challenges, and the heroine coming out the other side a new woman. Also most importantly if you love diverse stories showing different cultures, this is a good pick. As it’s a short story too if you have never read one of this author’s full novels, this would be an ideal place to start to get to know her.