Adichie’s novel tells the story of four Nigerian women-their friendships, their relationships with men and their lives in Nigeria and The United States. Chiamaka is beautiful, wealthy, has had many boyfriends and dabbles at being a travel writer. Zikora believes she has found the man of her dreams until she becomes pregnant. Kaditou works for Chiamaka and has a hard life which soon will become even more difficult. Finally, there is Omelogor who is brilliant, hard working, and tries to repair some of the injustices in our world.

Don’t be turned off by the foreign names; it is not confusing because each of the four women have a distinct personality. Dream Count is a fine “woman’s” book. Most of the men in the novel do not come off well, and although the four main characters are not heroic, they are for the most part strong and caring.