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.
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One thing that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books all have in common is they leave you thinking for days. The author gives you room to make your own conclusions and mull over things that were said and unsaid, and in truth, only a skilled writer can pull that off well.
'Zikora' is one of such reads -- a really good short story that I enjoyed; however, I wasn't thrilled about the ending because it seemed incomplete to me.
Zikora gets pregnant for her boyfriend whom she thought would be her 'forever' man, but to her utter shock (and mine too), he breaks up with her when she tells him the news, wanting nothing to do with her or their baby. I was mortified for her and thought somehow he'd come around at some point, but he never did.
Zikora and her mother never had a good relationship, but during her pregnancy and after giving birth, she begins to feel a certain appreciation for her mum and a new-found understanding about the actions and decisions her mother made while she was growing up.
Even though the story left me wanting more (which made me wistful), there's no denying the author's skilled way of confronting the struggles that women in various life stages -- daughter, new mother, wife -- face.
Adichie is a skilled writer, that's certain!
ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʀʏ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ
ᴍᴀᴛᴜʀɪᴛʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 13+
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