Notes from the Shelf

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The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is a 371-page literary fiction novel set in Nigeria. Here is the book blurb:

All you have are your words.

Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education.

As the only daughter of a broke father, she is a valuable commodity. Removed from school and sold as a third wife to an old man, Adunni’s life amounts to this: four goats, two bags of rice, some chickens and a new TV. When unspeakable tragedy swiftly strikes in her new home, she is secretly sold as a domestic servant to a household in the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where no one will talk about the strange disappearance of her predecessor, Rebecca. No one but Adunni…

As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless servant, fourteen-year-old Adunni is repeatedly told that she is nothing. But Adunni won’t be silenced. She is determined to find her voice – in a whisper, in song, in broken English – until she can speak for herself, for the girls like Rebecca who came before, and for all the girls who will follow.

I loved this book! I was hooked fairly quickly into the story and it wouldn’t let me go until I finished it; I ended up reading it in only four days. I haven’t often read books set in Africa, so I’m glad I picked this one up. I really felt for Adunni’s situation and was so proud of her growth throughout the story. There are strong feminist themes in the book as well, which I much appreciated.

I would say this book at first is hard to read because it’s written in Adunni’s broken English, so there are some words that she uses to describe things that aren’t as intuitive for a native English speaker to understand, so it’s a little bit confusing at first. However, it was very easy for me to adapt to the first part’s writing style. It also became easier to read as the book progressed, which I found to be such an amazing detail to include because Adunni was becoming better at English as the book progressed as well. It was a very subtle detail that I didn’t really notice until I had finished, but I love when authors include details like that to make the story more immersive.

I absolutely think it’s a book worth reading. I give The Girl with the Louding Voice 5 stars.

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