With her debut novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Daré introduces Adunni, an unforgettable 14-year-old from the Nigerian village of Ikata, and her dream of becoming a teacher.
"This morning, Papa call me inside the parlor," narrator Adunni begins. She kneels down, placing her hand behind her back to address him. "Sah?... You call me?" Thus, Nigerian-born author Daré sets up the power dynamics that play out through the entire novel, between father and daughter, husband and wife, and in society at large.
Adunni's recently deceased mother had supported the family by frying 100 puff-puffs daily to sell in the Ikati market. "Your schooling is your voice, child," Mama would tell her, and Adunni wants "a louding voice." But Papa cannot pay the community rent now, and sells his daughter to Morufu, the taxi driver, whose two other wives have not yet borne him a son.
Adunni's kindness and empathy toward others, in the face of such injustices, return to her, but it takes time. Morufu's first wife beats Adunni, but second wife Khadija befriends her. Khadija is pregnant; if this baby is not a boy, Morufu will kick her out. Adunni accompanies Khadija, she believes, to get medical help when the baby seems to be coming early. Instead, Adunni discovers en route that they are going to the village where the true father of Khadija's baby lives--a man who purportedly sires only sons. But Khadija dies of complications and Adunni fears she will be charged with murder, so she flees to the bustling city of Lagos to work for Big Madam, a wealthy woman who has made a fortune selling fabrics to the rich.
Through Adunni's perspective, Daré demonstrates how social strata matters little for women in Nigerian society. Big Madam, despite her abusive treatment of Adunni, gains readers' empathy as Adunni notes the woman's treatment by her husband. When Big Daddy leers at (and later attempts to rape) Adunni, she observes, "How is Morufu and Big Daddy different from each other? One can speak good English and the other doesn't speak good English, but both of them have the same terrible sickness of the mind." Adunni's lifeline is her discovery of The Book of Nigerian Facts in the library. She begins to put her experience into a larger context; readers watch the heroine's mind expand with each morsel of knowledge. Only Kofi, Big Madam's Ghanaian chef, shows Adunni respect. Kofi tells her about a scholarship for female domestic workers, and Adunni's fire ignites once more.
Through Adunni's narration, Daré introduces readers to the full scope of the young woman's widening world. The narrator's attempts to make the unknown familiar often come across like metaphors in poetry. Readers leave Adunni knowing that she has the intellectual resources and the guts to face whatever challenges she must in order to attain her goals. --Jennifer M. Brown, senior editor, Shelf Awareness
Shelf Talker: A winning young narrator pursues her dream of education and leaves her small village for the bustling city of Lagos in Nigerian-born author Abi Daré's debut novel.