Don't Miss It
5 stars
Funny, sad, inspiring, and beautifully written. ❤️
Hardcover
Published Nov. 7, 2020 by Dutton.
The Girl with the Louding Voice
by Abi Dare
4 stars
(3 reviews)
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 …
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.
crabbygirl reviewed The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
Review of 'The Girl with the Louding Voice' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
this was a such a promising novel: the use of Pidgin English in dialect and in thought process could be creative and direct (p.144 it is looking like she just glum a ceiling fan on a hat and put it on her head) and also poetic and true in a way that is only achieved when English is your second language (p.61 your mind is so full of worry, it is pouring all over your face). The initial story was compelling and felt reminiscent of Adichie but then things take a weirdly soft turn when her supposed saviour (who has been channelling to both Adunni and the readers that he's taking her to the faceless and unwieldy Lagos to sell her to "Big Madam" and prostitution) is actually selling her into domestic service, the mildest form of human trafficking there is. Sure she'll be beaten by her boss …
this was a such a promising novel: the use of Pidgin English in dialect and in thought process could be creative and direct (p.144 it is looking like she just glum a ceiling fan on a hat and put it on her head) and also poetic and true in a way that is only achieved when English is your second language (p.61 your mind is so full of worry, it is pouring all over your face). The initial story was compelling and felt reminiscent of Adichie but then things take a weirdly soft turn when her supposed saviour (who has been channelling to both Adunni and the readers that he's taking her to the faceless and unwieldy Lagos to sell her to "Big Madam" and prostitution) is actually selling her into domestic service, the mildest form of human trafficking there is. Sure she'll be beaten by her boss daily, but compared to what we think was going to happen, this is a gift. And the gifts keep coming in magical waves: a co-servant actively helping her find a scholarship, a compassionate ex-pat who happens to live down the street, a convenient vacation for the mean boss lady when language lessons are needed. A really good book just collapses into it's YA candy fluff. And here's how I know the book was edited or influenced by YA: the requisite litany of approved positions on the current 'pet issues' to ward off any criticisms about not properly condoning sexism, systemic racism, colonialism, climate change, capitalism, and religion. To be honest, I'm surprised Adunni didn't suddenly realise she was gay (although, with the own voice movement, such a declaration is only allowed to come from actual gay writers)
