Zikora

A Short Story

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Zikora

By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Narrated by: Adepero Oduye

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About this listen

The emotional storms weathered by a mother and daughter yield a profound new understanding in a moving short story by the best-selling, 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.

African American

Anthologies & Short Stories

Family Life

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Short Stories

Women's Fiction

Inspiring

Heartfelt

Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

“The actor Adepero Oduye as narrator shifts seamlessly between characters, and I hung onto her every word.” (The New York Times)

“The multitalented actress, director, singer, and writer Adepero Oduye provides an outstanding Nigerian-accented narration, charting Zikora's thoughts and feelings surrounding her failed relationship, her attempts to navigate new motherhood as a professional woman, and her developing understanding of her own mother's challenging relationship with Zikora's father in Nigeria.” (AudioFile Magazine)

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

Most relevant

I loved listening to this. As a British native of Nigeria, it made me reminisce of my childhood and I was able relate to the story line; not because I have experienced it, but because I know that the storyline is one that exists within the culture. it also made me homesick 😢. Although the orator is of yoruba origins (I think) and it was obvious to me when she tried to say certain things in Igbo, I loved that the she stuck to the Nigerian accent which is fabulous to hear.