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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Zikora: A Short Story Kindle Edition

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 6,502 ratings
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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.

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  1. Print length
    39 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Amazon Original Stories
  5. Publication date
    October 27, 2020
  6. File size
    4230 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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  1. I read somewhere that love was about this, the nuggets of knowledge about our beloved that we so fluently hold.
    Highlighted by 2,141 Kindle readers
  2. Ours was an ancient story, the woman wants the baby and the man doesn’t want the baby and a middle ground does not exist.
    Highlighted by 1,070 Kindle readers
  3. I never told the boy who didn’t love me, the boy I was trying to make love me when I didn’t yet know that you cannot nice your way into being loved.
    Highlighted by 713 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first fiction book since Americanah is short enough for one sitting, but will stick with you long after.” —The New York Times

“[Adichie] is delivering brand-new material to a world that needs her talents more than ever.” —Entertainment Weekly

“In Zikora, [Adichie] has produced a terrific, brave story, beautifully written in taut, clear prose, that lays bare the many injustices women—especially black women—still face, often at the hands of a black patriarchy. It’s only 35 pages long, but you finish it with a sense of having read something far longer and much bigger.” —Evening Standard

“Full of the witty and mournful observations Adichie’s fans know, Zikora is a reflection on the baffling and infuriating irresponsibility of men—and the long-suffering love of mothers.” —The Washington Post

“After years and years of anticipating a new book from Chimamanda, she storms us with this beautifully written short story. Chimamanda has done it again with this one, it’s so well written, so well spelled out, emotional, provocative and taut.” —Medium

“It’s a good day for fiction lovers. Actually, make that a great day. Anyone who has been holding their breath for more of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s sweeping fiction since her 2013 epic immigration novel Americanah can officially exhale.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“One of my favorites this year is a short story called Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie…As ever, Chimamanda paints a picture with her words that even in the most uncomfortable times one can’t look away from.” —Candice Brathwaite for British GQ

About the Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Purple Hibiscus; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction; Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year; the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck; and the essays We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08K942N84
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Original Stories (October 27, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 27, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4230 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 39 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 6,502 ratings

About the author

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE's work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker and Granta. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize; Americanah, which won the NBCC Award and was a New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year; the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck; and the essay We Should All Be Feminists. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
6,502 global ratings
Well written
5 Stars
Well written
Very descriptive and well written but with an unexpected and abrupt end.
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Top reviews from the United States

Aja Cooper
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
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I was not ready for that to be over. It was so raw and descriptive. This book sucked me in so hard I literally screamed when I unexpectedly came to the end of it. Just masterful.
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Jack
4.0 out of 5 stars I. need more
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2023
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Great story - seems that this is only the beginning though. I feel kinda silly asking but is there a part 2?
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KICIA COLDSPRING
5.0 out of 5 stars Chimamanda never disappoints
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024
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This short work is a mood, its timbre rich as to be expected, yet simultaneously, consciously, muted. There is no dissonance, though there is conflict. Chimamanda, master of sublimating the interior spaces of women-lives, freshly retells some familiar dilemmas.
One person found this helpful
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Calla
5.0 out of 5 stars Is it worth it?
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2024
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This book had me soooo invested. I was not ready for it to end. I want to know it all. Her mothers story included.
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Mary
5.0 out of 5 stars interesting
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023
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A lot of emotions from a daughter that is giving birth and her mother . You are in a rollo coaster of emotions. What is happening and how they are there… amaizing narrative.
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Nicole Bond
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Story But Wish It Had A Better Ending
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2021
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For the most part, I liked the story. It explored sex, dating, relationships, family expectations and marriage, filtered through a multi-cultural lens. Most importantly of all, it examined the different ways men and women perceive and interpret love and sexuality, and how these psychological differences affect the understanding and communication between them.

The story takes us through the birth of Zikora’s son, what led to it, and the myriad feelings that Zikora experiences throughout the process, such as rejection, heartbreak, having to face life as a single mother, and an immeasurable love for her new baby.

I didn’t quite like the ending though. I’m glad the author left the story open to the possibility of the baby’s paternal grandparents being part of his life. Nonetheless, it ended very suddenly without any real closure. So I subtracted a star for that.

Anyhow, it’s a pretty decent story from a gifted writer, so feel free to go ahead and give it a read. It’s just that I like my stories to be tied up nice and tidily at the end.
3 people found this helpful
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Lethea J. Garrett
3.0 out of 5 stars The End?
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2023
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A short story with no ending, no resolution, just done. What i read was pretty good. I don't like books that end abruptly.
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Padders- Padmini Sankar
5.0 out of 5 stars another superb story
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023
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I love how this author gets to the heart, the very essence of things. That’s what makes her writing so brilliant.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Lillyco
5.0 out of 5 stars the portrait of a modern man
Reviewed in Brazil on May 26, 2023
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More than the portrait of a woman, in this short story Chimamanda creates a portrait of a modern man. There is a woman as a partner, of course. But the man is inbelievable. It’s so real, so up to date!
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Adichie does it again
Reviewed in Canada on December 11, 2020
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Never before have I been so moved by a short story. The images and the emotions her words conjure... created such a visceral reaction. I was wincing at parts where she described childbirth. This short story is an ode to women and it moved me to tears.
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Cliente de Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Para reflexionar
Reviewed in Spain on May 26, 2022
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Interesante análisis de las emociones e intereses de las mujeres. Conmovedora historia, por encima de siglos y culturas nuestros sueños no cambian
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Mayavie
5.0 out of 5 stars An authentic birth story
Reviewed in India on February 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
Last week’s episode of This is Us had more than one birth story and all the filmy emotions that are usually associated with such scenes ran high. And I thought to myself, that was not my experience at all. And then I read Zikora and it was as authentic to my own experience of giving birth as possible.

“Now here he was wrapped like a tidy sausage roll and placed on my chest. He was warm and so very small. I held him with stiff hands. I was suspended in a place of no feeling, waiting to feel. I could not separate this moment from the stories of this moment—years of stories and films and books about this scene, mother and child, mother meeting child, child in mother’s arms. I knew how I was supposed to feel, but I did not know how I felt. It was not transcendental. There was a festering red pain between my legs. Somewhere in my consciousness, a mild triumph hovered, because it was over, finally it was over, and I had pushed out the baby.”

Zikora is the prophesy of all our mothers storified.. that we will understand our mothers when we ourselves become mothers.

My first Adichie, I found this short story on kindle unlimited and am in love with the way she writes.
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Mayavie
5.0 out of 5 stars An authentic birth story
Reviewed in India on February 24, 2021
Last week’s episode of This is Us had more than one birth story and all the filmy emotions that are usually associated with such scenes ran high. And I thought to myself, that was not my experience at all. And then I read Zikora and it was as authentic to my own experience of giving birth as possible.

“Now here he was wrapped like a tidy sausage roll and placed on my chest. He was warm and so very small. I held him with stiff hands. I was suspended in a place of no feeling, waiting to feel. I could not separate this moment from the stories of this moment—years of stories and films and books about this scene, mother and child, mother meeting child, child in mother’s arms. I knew how I was supposed to feel, but I did not know how I felt. It was not transcendental. There was a festering red pain between my legs. Somewhere in my consciousness, a mild triumph hovered, because it was over, finally it was over, and I had pushed out the baby.”

Zikora is the prophesy of all our mothers storified.. that we will understand our mothers when we ourselves become mothers.

My first Adichie, I found this short story on kindle unlimited and am in love with the way she writes.
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smidirin
5.0 out of 5 stars The expected gem
Reviewed in Germany on November 16, 2020
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This is, I believe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first foray into fiction since "Americanah", and hopefully suggests a larger work on the horizon. Written with the precision and grace that one recognises from her many essays over recent years, "Zikora" may be short in length (only 30 odd pages) but broad in the scope of the contemporary ideas that are suggested. Written in the first person, a Black woman and a lawyer in the US, Zikora, reflects back on her younger self in Nigeria, her complicated family, the "perfect" lover that has deserted her - and all this while she is about to give birth, with only the mother who she can not please (or so she thinks) at her side. Matters of patriarchy, power and race, as they are played in America and as they are played in Nigeria, are never far away; their insinuation and determining influence on her life is only now being recognised by Zikora. A beautiful read.
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