The Girl with the Louding Voice: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel

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The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
366 pages

What’s it about?
Adunni is just fourteen years-old and living in a small town in Nigeria. All she has ever wanted was to go to school and become a teacher. Her dreams of school end when her mother suddenly dies. Her father decides to marry her off as the third wife to an old man in exchange for food and rent money. The old man has hopes of Adunni bearing him a son. When a sudden tragedy strikes, Adunni runs away to the big city of Lagos. She feels lucky to get work as a domestic servant until she realizes she is not getting paid, and as always her voice is being silenced by those in power.

What did it make me think about?
I loved that this story showed not only the cruelty , but also the kindness in Nigerian culture.

Should I read it?
This was an interesting story about Nigeria. It has a cast of bigger than life characters. Some you will hate and some you will love. Adunni is a great narrator- don't miss meeting her!

Quote-
"She cough a little, shift herself on the floor mat, keep talking. 'In this village, if you go to school, no one will be forcing you to marry any man. But if you didn't go to school, they will marry you to any man once you are reaching fifteen years old. Your schooling is your voice, child. It will be speaking for you even if you didn't open your mouth to talk. It will be speaking till the day God is calling you to come.'
That day, I tell myself that even if I am not getting anything in this life, I will go to school. I will finish my primary and secondary and university schooling and become a teacher because I don't just want to be having any kind of voice...
​ I want a louding voice."

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Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Hum If You Don't Know The Words by Bianca Marais
​If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo​

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is a heartfelt and powerful story, particularly in the way it centers women’s bodies, girls’ autonomy, and the longing for freedom. What struck me most was how the novel highlights these struggles outside the Black American lens. Though fictional, Adunni’s story mirrors countless real ones—girls and women being treated as property, forced to meet their family’s needs first, often through prearranged marriages. Yet in Adunni’s heart, she wants nothing more than to finish school, to teach, and to use her voice to help others in the same circumstances. Yet, all of it must be put on hold. From the start, I appreciated how authentically Daré allows us to see through Adunni’s eyes. I don’t often like to use the word resilient (especially since it’s so often used to define Black people and our forced tenacity to “make it do what it do”—spoiler alert: we don't often have a choice), but it’s the word that came to mind with her character. Her path to freedom and autonomy is rooted in community—a reminder of the truth I hold: it’s through community that we all get free. Even as she is forced to learn hard lessons about trust, she clings to her mother’s advice: “Adunni, you must do good for other peoples, even if you are not well, even if the whole world around you is not well.” For me, this wasn’t about sacrificing herself, but about holding on to her innate goodness in a world determined to strip it away. Adunni never becomes hardened; instead, she grows more aware, more focused, and wiser through her experiences. There were times I felt deep sadness at the hatred and judgment Adunni endured, sometimes even from women who looked like her. Yet she never allowed their cruelty to define or break her spirit. If this book had a title track, it would be Beyoncé’s Break My Soul. That’s the energy I felt as I followed Adunni’s journey. Another theme that stood out was how far people will go to “save face,” prioritizing appearances over reality—often at the expense of those already marginalized. That was infuriating to witness, and I often found myself angry at those around Adunni while simply wanting her to be safe. The story reminded me of how often Black girls’ and women’s voices are silenced worldwide by patriarchy and misogynoir. At times it was a hard read, because these dynamics are still alive and here in America, it is resurfacing with even greater force, and for many of us, these dynamics have never left. It has never been enough to create our own spaces or shatter ceilings; systems still try desperately to silence us. I also appreciated how Daré wove in facts about Nigeria—its culture, politics, and realities. Those details were a gift, opening my eyes to a country I know too little about. Though I could sense the direction of the ending, I was unsure of the path, which kept me invested until the last page. Overall, I’d give this book a 3.8/5 and definitely recommend it.

I tried reading this book two times before I was actually able to read it. It might have been because I had just finished a book about a young girl who is married off to someone she doesn't know/want/love and I didn't want to read a similar story. But this one was actually better than I thought. Adunni, is a young Nigerian girl who wants an education. But after her mother dies, her father sells her off to an old taxi driver in exchange for rent money. As the 3rd wife, her husband, Morufu, is anxiously awaiting for the birth of a son. His first wife, Labake, has only given him a daughter. His second wife, Khadija, has given him 3 daughters and is pregnant again. Labake is mean and nasty to Adunni. Khadija is much nicer and takes Adunni under her wing. But when an unspeakable tragedy strikes, she runs away and is secretly sold as a domestic servant to a wealthy household in Lagos. Here Adunni is mistreated as well. Despite this, she is constantly trying to better herself and get an education. Unspeakable things happen to Adunni but she is determined to find her voice. One way she does this is by a chance meeting with Ms. Tia. Ms. Tia is not like the other rich, powerful women who gather with Big Madam.

Told in Adunni's broken English (this took a while to get used to-I kept correcting her speech in my head), this is the story of a fearless girl who keeps dreaming and refuses to be silenced. She is feisty and powerful. Although there were many sad things happen, it is still a hopeful story. I loved Aduuni and Ms. Tia.

As we discussed in our book club, marrying young brides happens not only in other countries, but right here in America! It was an interesting read and I felt the strength and preserverence Adunni had along with calling on her ancestors saved her life.

OMG! This book is so very sad and depressing. Yes, it does explain what life might be like for a poor girl in Nigeria, or in any poor third-world country. It is hard to believe this was happening ten years ago, 2015, and is probably still happening. Alunna is only fourteen and wants to be educated and have a better life. She does not want to be the third wife to an old man, or sold into slavery and forced to work from dawn to midnight. What this poor girl endures is terrifying. There is mention of killings that happen in villages if you are to be blamed for the death of another, even if you were not responsible. I had just finished a book about life in China in the late 1800s and how restricted the women were, but that was over 100 years ago; this is going on now.

I hated how the author wrote in broken English, mimicking how Alunna might have been speaking. It just made it harder to read.