Photo credit: chimamanda_adichie/Instagram
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has a way of writing that feels like she’s sitting right across from you, telling you a story. It is no wonder that her latest essay “The Story of My First Love”, published in Vogue is making so much buzz online.
In “The Story of My First Love”, she takes us back to her teenage years and her first boyfriend, Echezona. She starts by describing her life growing up on the University of Nigeria campus, where her father was a professor. It was a quiet, bookish world, very different from Echezona’s life. He came from a completely different background, and that difference fascinated her. You can feel her curiosity and the excitement of young love as she talks about him.
One of the most interesting parts of the essay is how Adichie describes the feeling of first love. It’s awkward, it’s exciting, it’s confusing, all at the same time. She remembers the way Echezona walked, the things he said, the way he made her feel. She doesn’t shy away from the less glamorous parts either. She admits that Echezona wasn’t perfect, that he even did things she didn’t approve of. But that’s what makes this essay so relatable. It’s not a romanticised version of first love. It captures that feeling of being young and figuring things out. The excitement and the heartbreak that comes with it.
The essay also touches on deeper themes of identity, independence, and choice – ideas we often only fully understand when we look back. Adichie reflects on how her feelings for Echezona were intertwined with her sense of self and how, even though their relationship was short-lived, it helped her better understand love.
And then there’s the connection to her new novel, “Dream Count,” coming out on March 4, 2025. She writes, “He was my first love, but in dying, he became an idealised future that I could have had. Maybe this is why my new novel, Dream Count, is haunted by the idea of the one who could have been, the one made perfect by loss.” It’s a beautiful, bittersweet thought that makes you wonder how themes of love, loss, and memory will show up in the characters’ lives in “Dream Count.”
Check out the full essay on ‘The Story of My First Love” here.
