The Girl with the Louding Voice: a Novel by Abi Dare. New York, Dutton, 2020. 368 pages *****
Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who faces a bleak future: sold as a third wife to a vile old man. The second wife befriends her and just as Adunni is adjusting to her new life, tragedy strikes. Adunni dreams of returning to school and getting an education and instead is sold as a domestic servant to Big Madam and Big Daddy. Rebecca, her predecessor, mysteriously disappeared and Adunni is determined to find out how and why. Big Daddy has his own ideas for Adunni's responsibilities despite his wife's violent tendencies.
This book is an amazing coming-of-age debut novel. Adunni's voice is strong and clear in her quest to get an education and speak in a "louding voice" for other girls in a similar situation. The story is a complex one of cultural expectations and inequality. I loved Adunni's independence, spunk, and determination. I'm not sure whether Dare has planned a sequel, or this is a stand-alone novel, however, I want more! Once read, you will be telling your friends about it and recommending it to everyone. Add it to your summer reading list.
For more information on Nigeria:
https://www.oxfam.org/en/nigeria-extreme-inequality-numbers
https://www.britannica.com/place/Lagos-Nigeria
Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and has lived in the UK for eighteen years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice won the Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was also selected as a finalist in the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.
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