In the COVID'19 pandemic, Adichie lost her father, which pushed her into despair that she had never encountered before. Her father was in Nigeria, and she was in America. The travel restrictions kept the scattered-across-globe family separated. In this short book, which is more like a journal, she talks about her account of grief and loss. The book portrays her bond with her father. The other portion of this book talks about how gem of a person her father was. I loved reading about her father, about his personage. The book signifies a very powerful thing that one should spend time with loved ones before they are gone, never to come back again.
"We don't know how we grieve until we grieve."
Having said everything, I think the book lacked something. I know it is not appropriate to judge someone’s grief notes as a critic, but if it is put up as a piece of literature, it is bound to be judged. So, don’t come at me saying that I am being critical here. This book is almost the journal entries of the author, which fairly justifies the title, but as a 'book', I definitely wanted more. It is written more for the author herself than anyone else. I was looking for something else in this book. I wouldn't have mentioned this negative part here, but the book is quite overpriced for the content it holds. I strongly feel that this is a face value mechanism. The author has a great fanbase, that's why the price. For some great quotes you may buy this one, but otherwise, it does not have anything great to offer. It is what I felt. A few people found this book comforting. So, I just want to mention that I don't want to depreciate anyone's grief.
I was super eager to read this, but it was not worth my excitement.