Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

About The Book

A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking how to raise her new baby girl a feminist.

Although she has written and spoken out widely about feminism, Adichie wasn't sure how to advise her friend Ijeawele. But as a person who'd babysat, had loved her nieces and nephews, and now, too, was the mother of a daughter herself, she thought she would try. So she sent Ijeawele a letter with some suggestions--15 in all--which she has now decided to share with the world.

Compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive, Dear Ijeawele offers specifics on how we can empower our daughters to become strong, independent women. Here, too, are ways parents can raise their children--both sons and daughters--beyond a culture's limiting gender prescriptions. This short, sharp work rings out in Chimamanda's voice: infused with deep honesty, clarity, strength, and above all love. She speaks to the important work of raising a girl in today's world, and provides her readers with a clear proposal for inclusive, nuanced thinking. Here we have not only a rousing manifesto, but a powerful gift for all people invested in the idea of creating a just society--an endeavour now more urgent and important than ever.

Editorial Reviews

“Immensely talented.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s incessant curiosity about people is what makes her such a wonderful storyteller.” —The Sunday Telegraph

“[Adichie’s] unflinching, multi-arc redemption stories bridge the gap between Africa and the West, in a vein perhaps only comparable to that of the late, missed Chinua Achebe.” —Interview

“[O]ne of the most beloved and critically lauded writers working today.” —The Guardian

“Adichie has shown herself a powerful writer, moving with disquieting ease from humour to horror, and anger to tenderness.” —The Scotsman

About Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker and Granta. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize; Americanah, which won the NBCC Award and was a New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year; the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck; and the essay We Should All Be Feminists. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.