A captivating story of hope and courage!
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
It took me a while to fall into the rhythms of Adunni's patois Nigerian Anglo voice. I wondered about that at first but the reality is that Adunni's voice enabled me to enter into her head space and culture more quickly than I otherwise would have.
A fifteen year old girl, against her wishes and dreams, is sold off to be the third wife of an old man who wants sons. No pity or consideration here. Adunni's future is a transaction between her father and her husband. Her father benefits from the bride dowry. Adunni suffers the consequences.
When she fearfully flees her husband and circumstances surrounding wife number two, Adunni little knows that she will enter another hellish world. She is essentially trafficked. Once again she is an unpaid servant with no rights who is beaten by her mistress and has to keep dodging the attentions of the master.
But she finds friends in unlikely places who help her to find her "Louding Voice."
I loved that Adunni uses the facts of Nigeria book and Collins English Dictionary to try to improve her language skills.
I was appalled by the conditions of the everyday people and repelled by the custom to help cleanse Adunni's friend Ms. Tia from demons to enable her to conceive. Adunni was of the same mind.
The gap between the rich and powerful and the poor is incredible as are the living conditions.
That Adunni remains a girl with her glass half full is just amazing. She is determined, gutsy and completely believable
A terse and eye opening read. The dedication and prologue becomes so much more meaningful after having read Adunni's journey.
A Penguin / Dutton ARC via NetGalley
*****
A fifteen year old girl, against her wishes and dreams, is sold off to be the third wife of an old man who wants sons. No pity or consideration here. Adunni's future is a transaction between her father and her husband. Her father benefits from the bride dowry. Adunni suffers the consequences.
When she fearfully flees her husband and circumstances surrounding wife number two, Adunni little knows that she will enter another hellish world. She is essentially trafficked. Once again she is an unpaid servant with no rights who is beaten by her mistress and has to keep dodging the attentions of the master.
But she finds friends in unlikely places who help her to find her "Louding Voice."
I loved that Adunni uses the facts of Nigeria book and Collins English Dictionary to try to improve her language skills.
I was appalled by the conditions of the everyday people and repelled by the custom to help cleanse Adunni's friend Ms. Tia from demons to enable her to conceive. Adunni was of the same mind.
The gap between the rich and powerful and the poor is incredible as are the living conditions.
That Adunni remains a girl with her glass half full is just amazing. She is determined, gutsy and completely believable
A terse and eye opening read. The dedication and prologue becomes so much more meaningful after having read Adunni's journey.
A Penguin / Dutton ARC via NetGalley
*****
Comments
Post a Comment