The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Book Review
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I finished this lovely book over the weekend. I’m so glad The Morning Bookclub chose this for our September read. It was such a beautiful and inspiring story.
In her debut novel, Abi Daré writes about an ambitious teenage girl growing up in poverty in rural Nigeria, who, despite cultural expectations, dreams of going to school to become a teacher. After being sold into marriage at 14, Adunni finds herself in a precarious position when tragedy strikes her new home. She runs away in order to avoid being wrongfully accused of a crime she didn’t commit. As she seeks refuge, she ends up in Lagos serving as a domestic servant to a wealthy (and cruel) woman. Despite the odds and the insurmountable obstacles standing in her way, Adunni is determined to find her “louding voice” and build a better future for herself and other young Nigerian girls.
The book is written in broken English, to reflect Adunni’s authentic voice, which I admittedly struggled with for the first 100 or so pages (I’m a sucker for proper sentence structure). However, I ultimately got used to the writing style and was captivated by the ever-evolving storyline. I also liked seeing how the author changed her writing style to reflect Adunni’s improving English as she starts to educate herself.
This book deserves all the praise! I hope Abi Daré decides to write a sequel. I would love to see how Adunni continues to evolve beyond the last chapter of the book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars
