A review-Notes on Grief

“How is it that the world keeps going, breathing in and out unchanged, while in my soul there is a permanent scattering?” -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda takes her readers on an emotional journey as she explores the emotions she felt around the time that she lost her Father. The book is based on true events and focuses on a family that is grieving. The grieving experience takes place during the Covid- 19 pandemic, she takes the reader through the experience of not being able to physically mourn and comfort each other. She explores the Igbo mourning culture and how there are higher expectations on women as compared to men to “wear” their grief. She explores how cultural practices have a different meaning when you are grieving a loved one. She looks into how the pandemic has affected mourning practices and how everything now takes longer than usual. Chimamanda makes use of the flashback technique to look back on the wonderful memories she and her siblings had with their father.

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Notes on Grief enabled me to get a better understanding of how we all go through the experience grief but have different ways of handling grief. Notes on Grief is a great piece of literature that I highly recommend.Readers who enjoyed the writer’s Half of a yellow sun will enjoy reading Notes on grief.

I trust that you enjoyed reading the review and I liked how Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie was open about her emotions and feelings after the death of her father. The review was written by Tadiwanashe Teresa Pomerai who is a dedicated human rights lawyer. She is an avid reader who particularly enjoys African literature. She enjoys knitting in her spare time. She is lives in Zimbabwe with her husband.