I’m so excited to talk to you all about The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. This was my Book of the month pick for February and it was a Jenna Bush Hager “Read with Jenna” pick. I am loving Jenna’s book recommendations so I was very excited to read this one.
Synopsis
A powerful, emotional debut novel told in the unforgettable voice of a young Nigerian woman who is trapped in a life of servitude but determined to fight for her dreams and choose her own future.
Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a “louding voice”—the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni’s father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir.
When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing.
But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can—in a whisper, in song, in broken English—until she is heard.
Rating
5 Stars (Must Read!)
My Thoughts
I finished this book a few days ago and I’m still thinking about it. This is an emotional and powerful read but also full of hope. It made me think about the things we take for granted and the power of education.
This book is written in Adunni’s colloquial voice which can take a little to get used to. However, I thought it was brilliant and it impacted how her story is told and how I felt about it. Don’t let the writing deter you from picking this one up.
What Adunni goes through is unimaginable but she doesn’t let that break her, she doesn’t stop fighting for what she wants. The character development is outstanding, she is a character I wont forget anytime soon. Another thing I liked about this book was learning more about Nigeria and some of the terrible things that women experience there. Some of the chapters start with some facts about the country as an introduction to the chapter which blew my mind.
This is a story about survival, perseverance, friendship and hope.
Favorite Quote
❝I want more than just a voice, I want a louding voice. I want to enter a room and people will hear me even before I open my mouth to be speaking. I want to live in this life and help many people so that when I grow old and die, I will still be living through the people I am helping.❞
Who I recommend this book to
I recommend this book to fans of A Woman is no man, A Thousand Splendid Suns and Dominicana. It gave me some of the same feelings I had when I read those books.
Grab your paperback copy here!
