THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE, by Abi Daré - Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 (Goodreads: 4.43)

GENRE: Contemporary African Fiction

PART OF A SERIES? Yes {sequel arriving August 2024}

WORTH READING? Yes

SUMMARY:

14-year-old Adunni wants two things: an education and to find her ‘louding voice’. But being the only daughter of a broke father in Nigeria, her value breaks down to four goats, two bags of rice, some chickens and a new TV.

Adunni is taken out of school and sold to an old man. A terrible tragedy occurs and she is again uprooted, this time sold as a domestic servant to a cruel couple. There, no-one will discuss what happened to Adunni’s predecessor, Rebecca. But Adunni determines to find out, and to find her voice, so that she can speak for herself and for girls like Rebecca.

Opening line: 'This morning, Papa call me inside the parlor. He was sitting inside the sofa with no cushion…'

Abi Daré has created such a strong voice in the main character, Adunni. And oh my gosh, she is so funny! The nuggets she comes out with had me laughing out loud many, many times. For example: “When papa asked me to move closer, I am not answering him, because our parlor is the small of a Mazda car. Did he want me… kneeling inside his mouth?” She also describes a mattress as full of holes and a place that “bedbugs are using as kitchen and toilet.”

Abi Daré is a very talented writer. I love nothing more than a book where the writer expresses things in a unique way. Bonus points if humour is interlaced.

Abi Daré’s use of descriptions and imagery is absolutely wonderful. For example:

“Outside, the moon is red… as if God pluck out His angry eye…”

“Death, he is tall like a… tree, with no body, no flesh, no eyes, only mouth and teeths…””

The main character, Adunni, asks the reader to consider the very real struggles of (too) many females: “Why make the world to be one big, sad, silent place because all the childrens are not having a voice?”

The Girl with the Louding Voice has a palpable, simmering tension throughout, and I found myself worrying about Adunni, even when I wasn’t reading. She is a kind and gentle soul; it takes a special kind of person to be caring towards people who are cruel to you.

Through Adunni, Abi Daré describes people in very positive or negative ways. Sometimes we, the reader, can tell what a new character is like simply by the way their breath or voice is described. E.g. a breath that smells like toothpaste or a voice that sounds like honey. On the other hand, we are told of a body that smells like cow manure.

I appreciated that Abi Daré didn’t feel it necessary to give the reader all the intricate details about what happened to Adunni at the hands of others. Sometimes, less really is more.

Abi Daré has certainly created a fabulous book in The Girl with the Louding Voice and I can’t recommend it enough!

 Click here if you’d like to purchase the book from Amazon

Click here if you'd like to buy it the sequel (which I've also reviewed), And So I Roar.