My Thoughts:
This intense short story starts in the middle of labor when the main character is already at the edge of her pain threshold. Through her mother's very stoic reactions, we readers get an understanding of the cultural divide between daughter and mother. Her mother wants her to "manage" but the main character is still hopeful that the father of her baby will answer her texts and show up for his child, despite the months of his making it clear that he does not want to be a part of this equation.
Through this ordeal, Zikora must self reflect on what it means to be a mother.
Although this is just a short story, there is a visceral reaction to the way Adichie paces this story. In a Guardian article about books and reading, Adichie talks about how she got a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquezʻ book One Hundred Years of Solitude and she had such a visceral reaction to the book that
It taught me the exquisite power of stories, their ability to engage your imagination and permanently stamp things on your mind in a way that nothing else can.
From the Publisher:
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.
Publication Information:
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Amazon Press (October 27, 2020)
Pages: 39
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