Book Review: ‘The Girl with the Louding Voice’ by Abi Dare

Today I share my reviews of ‘The Girl With the Louding Voice’ by Abi Dare, published by Sceptre on 5 March 2020.

MY REVIEW

Initially difficult to get into, because of the broken / pidgin English of the first person narrator Adunni, this story becomes compelling, tragic, and horrific.

A 14 year old girl from a Nigerian village is sold into marriage to a 60 year old man, because her father needs money to buy his ‘community rent’. Adunni’s fate – and worse – is shared by many girls in countries bedevilled by corruption and misgovernment, who are not able to enter education because of lack of money.

Adunni’s passion for education is evident from the first, and it is heartbreaking to think how much wealth is squandered in corruption in a country like Nigeria – and doubtless several others around the world – when it could be used to create free universal education for all.

Apart from the issue-led nature of this story, the power of the narrative sweeps the reader through. We are behind Adunni every step of the way, through her relationships with supporters and allies like Khadija, Kofi, Mr Kola and Ms Tia, her sufferings under the cruel and sadistic, such as her enforced husband Morufu, and her bosses Big Madam and Big Daddy; and the strength of her spirit driving her through these life experiences.

In the end the reader may feel angry because of the huge injustices this author exposes about human greed, political injustice and corruption; and yet there is hope at the end, characters who warm the heart, and we may see some light in the future for our heroine, and perhaps a changed outlook for at least some of her oppressors.

This is certainly a 5 star read, a very powerful book which I hope will bring about huge social and institutional change, along with a radical transformation of attitudes to human rights and especially the rights of women.

Why not sign up to join me on my writing journey and you’ll receive my monthly newsletter straight to your inbox in which I share gems and snippets from my research discoveries, and news and insights from the writing and publishing worlds. Also you’ll be the first to know when I have a new book coming out.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog posts here and would like to support me on my writing journey you can do so here at buy me a coffee, and I’d be very grateful.