Notes on Grief is a 2021 memoir written by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.[1][2][3] Presented in 30 short sections, Notes on Grief was written following the death of her father James Nwoye Adichie in June 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic,[4] and is expanded from an essay first published in The New Yorker.[5] As The New York Times notes: "What she narrates is not only father loss, but the ways Mr. Adichie endures in having made of her a writer."[4]
 | |
| Author | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Random House of Canada |
Publication date | 11 May 2021 |
| Publication place | Nigeria |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 80 |
| ISBN | 9781039001565 |
Reception
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Upon release, Notes on Grief was generally well-received. According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on nineteen critic reviews, with twelve being "rave" and seven being "positive".[6] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(4.00 out of 5) from the site which was based on five critic reviews.[7][8]
Reviewing Notes on Grief for NPR, Hope Wabuke said: "In poetic bursts of imagistic prose that mirror the fracturing of self after the death of a beloved parent, Adichie constructs a narrative of mourning — of haunting and of love."[1] The Guardian review characterised it as "both emotional and austere, a work of dignity and of unravelling. Spare and yet spiritually nutritious".[2] Ainehi Edoro in Brittle Paper observes: "In the book, grief is represented in a strikingly sensory language. ...Ultimately, the book is a portrait of her father."[9]
Notes on Grief received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which concluded with the description: "An elegant, moving contribution to the literature of death and dying."[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Wabuke, Hope (11 May 2021). "'Notes On Grief' Makes Visceral The Experience Of Death And Grieving". NPR. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ a b Taylor, Catherine (15 May 2021). "Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie review – the malicious surprise". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ Lozada, Carlos (6 May 2021). "In grieving for her father, a novelist discovers the failure of words". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ a b Broom, Sarah M. (9 May 2021). "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: 'My Madness Will Now Bare Itself'". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (10 September 2020). "Notes on Grief". The New Yorker. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ "Notes on Grief". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Notes on Grief Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Notes on Grief". Bibliosurf (in French). 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ Edoro, Ainehi (9 August 2021). "In Search of a Language for Grief: Review of Chimamanda Adichie's Notes on Grief". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ "Notes on Grief". Kirkus Reviews. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.