Notes on Grief

Notes on Grief is an exquisite work of meditation, remembrance, and hope, written in the wake of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's beloved father’s death in the summer of 2020. Adichie and her family members were kept apart by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also caused her father's renal failing difficulties to abruptly end.

Adichie elaborates on her initial New Yorker article and describes how this loss completely rocked her. She talks about being one of the millions of individuals experiencing loss this year, about the cultural and family aspects of mourning, and about the inevitable feelings of rage and loneliness that come with it. Adichie skillfully combines elements of her father's life story—from his incredible survival during the Biafran war to a lengthy career as a statistics professor to the days of the pandemic when he would use video chat to stay in touch with his children and grandchildren—with her own experience of her father's death. As always, Adichie's writing is marked by a sharp and precise style. Adichie creates a work of literary art in the condensed form of Dear Ijeawele and We Should All Be Feminists. This book explores one of the most common human experiences and essentially binds us to one another. Notes on Grief is a book for this moment—a work readers will treasure and share now more than ever--and yet will prove durable and timeless, an indispensable addition to Adichie's canon.