Back in September 2024, I visited the small Provençal village of Ansouis for their annual vide grenier which included a corner of tables where the local French library sell second hand books in French and English. I like to donate a couple of boxes of books and try not to be too tempted by what I find.

Nigerian Literature and Storytelling

The Girl With the Louding Voice was one of the titles that jumped out at me that I couldn’t resist picking up.

I enjoy Nigerian literature and storytelling, all more so because I visited Lagos for a friend’s wedding many years ago and writing like Abi Daré’s evokes all the senses that bring back memories of being in that place and time.

Not only the location, but the descriptions of people’s lives sounded familiar, those that have been educated outside and come back, the self-made women entrepreneurs who just get on and create businesses as well as raise families and those that you know have never been outside of their country, trying to make their way.

Loss of a Mother Changes Everything

14 year old Adunni’s life changes after the death of her mother, who had been keeping the family afloat. Despite the husband having made promises to his dying wife not to marry off his only daughter, he’s unable to keep up with paying the rent and soon his daughter has been promised as the 3rd wife of a much older man.

Why will Morufu pay our community rent? What was he wanting? Or is he owing Papa money from before in the past? I look my papa, my eyes filling with hope that it is not the thing I am thinking. ‘Papa?’

‘Yes.’ Papa, wait, swallow spit and wipe his front head sweat. ‘The rent money is … is among your owo-ori.’

‘My owo-ori? You mean my bride price?’ My heart is starting to break because I am only fourteen years going on fifteen and I am not marrying any foolish stupid old man because I am wanting to go back to school and learn teacher work and become a adult woman and have moneys to be driving car and living in fine house with cushion sofa and be helping my papa and my two brothers.

Marrying Morofu puts Adunni into an environment where a woman’s value is defined by her ability to bear male babies and one where she is in competition with other wives. Adunni doesn’t wish to bring more children into the world with no chance at an education, or voice.

Education is Key

Adunni has held aspirations of continuing her education ever since it was cut short and it is one element of belief and resilience that carries her through the challenges that confront her when a sudden tragedy causes her to flee her situation.

When she finds herself in the busy city of Lagos, working for the self-made Big Madam, she hopes her luck might change. She manages to steal time in the library where she comes across a dictionary and a book of Nigerian facts, in which are written things like:

Fact: Nigerians are known for their love of parties and events. In 2012 alone, Nigerians spent over $59 million on champagne.

Adunni learns facts about her country, dictionary definitions and new vocabulary and tries to keep herself safe and true to her ideal. Fortunately she also meets one or two characters who look out for her, however Big Madam seems intent on crushing her spirit.

As the novel ends, it feels like a new chapter of her life is beginning and that we may not have heard the last of Adunni.

It’s an excellent read that is very evocative of place, the descriptions of Lagos put you right there, as were the descriptions of the contrasting lives of the haves and the have nots. It highlights that fact that despite the patriarchal society, many households and entrepreneurial businesses are run by women and much of the fragment of society is kept together by their determined contribution and drive.

‘My mama say education will give me a voice. I want more than just a voice, Ms Tia. I want a louding voice,’ I say. ‘I want to enter a room and people will hear me even before I open mout to be speaking. I want to live in this life and help many people so that when I grow old and die, I will still be living through the people I am helping.’

Highly Recommended.

If You Like This Book

Reading The Girl With the Louding Voice reminded me of the equally excellent novels Nervous Conditions (my review here) (the first in a trilogy) by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) and The Son of the House (reviewed here) by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (Nigerian/Canadian), which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize (2021).

Author, Abi Daré

Abimbola (Abi) Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and has lived in the UK for eighteen years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an M.Sc. in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University of London.

The Girl with the Louding Voice won The Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was selected as a finalist in 2018 The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. It has been translated into 20 languages.

Her second novel And So I Roar follows Adunni’s and Ms Tia’s journey and was published in 2024. Listen here to Abi Daré talk about the new novel and some of the interesting people who reached out to her after reading her debut, in this 90 second summary of And So I Roar.

In 2023, she established the Louding Voice Educational and Empowerment Foundation in Nigeria, a nonprofit dedicated to providing scholarships to young girls in rural Nigeria.  It exists as a testament to the belief that education and empowerment can be a beacon of change for girls trapped in the shadows of domestic labor and gender-based violence in Nigeria.

Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.