Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s triumphant return to the literary scene over a decade after her critically acclaimed Americanah, has secured a coveted spot on the BBC’s 12 Best Books of 2025 So Far list.
Published by Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House), Dream Count arrives as a significant literary event, lauded by critics as “worth the wait.” The Observer raves it’s “like four novels for the price of one,” praising its “flesh and blood characters lavishly imagined in the round.”
The novel intricately weaves together the lives of three Nigerian women, exploring the complexities of their friendships and how their lives have unfolded against their initial aspirations. Adichie masterfully interweaves childhood and early-adult memories with their current realities, creating a rich tapestry of experiences.
The New Statesman highlights the book’s exploration of “big themes” such as masculinity, race, colonialism, and power, calling it “a complex, multi-layered beauty of a book. Extraordinary.”
Dream Count stands alongside other literary heavyweights on the BBC’s curated list, including Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, Torrey Peters’ Stag Dance, and Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Theft, further solidifying its position as a must-read of the year.
Adichie’s latest offering is a powerful testament to her enduring storytelling prowess and her keen insight into the human condition.
