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Dare's exuberant, moving debut revolves around Adunni; a Nigerian girl regarded as property at the age of fourteen, yet determined to find her 'louding voice' and live a life that she controls.
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year 2021
Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020
All you have are your words.
Meet Adunni, a teenage girl born into a rural Nigerian village.
Aged fourteen, she is a commodity, a wife, a servant.
She is also smart, funny, curious, with a spirit and joy infectious to those around her.
And despite her situation going from bad to worse, she has a plan to escape: she will find her 'louding voice' and get her education, so that she can speak up for herself - and all the girls who came before her.
As she turns enemies into friends and superiors into aides, Adunni will take you with her on a heart-breaking but inspiring journey from a small village to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, and show you that no matter the situation, there is always some joy to be found.
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529359275
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 258 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'A stunning novel - original, beautiful and powerful. I was utterly captivated by Adunni and her mesmerising louding voice.' - Rosamund Lupton
'A courageous story of a woman asserting her own voice.' - New York Times
'A bold new storyteller . . . Abi Dare's fearless debut is a celebration of girls who dare to dream and those who help them unfurl their wings so that they might soar.' - Imbolo Mbue
'Adunni's voice weaves and dances its way across the pages with a rhythm that captivated me, astonished me and, more than once, broke my heart.' - Tara Conklin
'Heartbreaking and inspiring. Dare provides a valuable reminder of all the young women around the world who are struggling to be heard and how important it is that we listen to them. A moving story of what it means to fight for the right to live the life you choose.' - Kirkus
'The Girl With the Louding Voice is a character for the ages. Adunni is a girl who narrates her own suffering with levity, who paints depth and texture and beauty into her Nigerian homeland, who tenderly cultivates her own humanity even while everything around her seeks to thwart it. She is an ambassador for girls everywhere. She is important, funny, brave, and enduring. Abi Dare has written an unforgettable novel, by the strength of her own louding voice.' - Jeanine Cummins
'2020 [is] a dazzling year for debut novelists . . . This 2018 Bath Novel Award winner takes a long, hard look at modern slavery through the eyes of 14-year-old Adunni.' - Timothy Harrison, Vogue
'The story of one remarkable girl's quest to overcome tragedy and oppression, and to speak for herself.' - Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail
'A true original, this will open your eyes.' - Cosmopolitan
'A new decade calls for new voices. Thankfully there's plenty of fresh talent to stock your shelves with . . . In a bid for freedom, 14-year-old Adunni flees an arranged marriage to a local elder only to get sucked into working as a maid for a wealthy Lagos family. But unlike so many others forced into a life of servitude in modern-day Nigeria, Adunni will not be silenced. This is the story of how she learns to speak up.' - Stylist
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