The girl is reading a novel voice change

Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she was exposed to many households—including her own—that employed young girls as housemaids. These girls were usually brought to Lagos from small villages or other countries, and it was common for their employers to mistreat them. It was in part her experiences with these girls, their stories, and the way they used language that inspired Daré to write The Girl with the Louding Voice. After Daré’s parents divorced, her mother raised her and her brother. Their mother instilled in Daré the importance of education and ensured that her children received the best education possible. Daré was educated at the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2000 to pursue a law degree at Wolverhampton University, an MSc in International Project Management at Glasgow Caledonian University, and later, an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice is her first novel. The unpublished manuscript that would later become the novel won the 2018 Bath Novel Award and was a finalist for the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Daré lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters. As of 2020, she oversees app development at a publishing firm. The real-life issue of child marriage in Nigeria features prominently in Daré’s novel. According to a 2018 UNICEF report, there are an estimated 22 million child brides living in Nigeria, which also has the largest number...

“N igeria is a country located in West Africa”: so begins the prologue of Abi Daré’s debut novel. The prologue is a brief excerpt from The Book of Nigerian Facts, supposedly published in 2014. Though this book is fictional, the facts it gives are real. It states: “As the 6th largest crude oil exporter in the world, and with a GDP of $568.5 billion, Nigeria is the richest country in Africa. Sadly, over 100 million Nigerians live in poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.” It seems a curious place to start a novel. Imagine John Lanchester’s Capital opening with this quote from a Nevertheless, I turn the page and meet Adunni, our protagonist. Adunni is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a small town several hours’ drive from Lagos. Although she is a minor, she is about to be illegally married off to raise money for her father. Her bride price will be used to pay the family’s rent, among other things. In many ways, her tale is one of woe. Her mother, who championed her right to an education, is dead. She is raped by her “husband”, who has a daughter her age. Through a series of unfortunate events, she ends up in Lagos as the servant of Big Madam. Although called a “house-girl”, she is really a slave because her wages are withheld from her and given to her procurer. Despite her hardships, Adunni is determined to become a success, and believes that the surest route is by securing a western education. This is a trope used in classic Nigerian children’s books such as Onuora Nzekwu’...

The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré In the Nigerian village where fourteen-year-old Adunni lives, girls and women are treated as commodities. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is the story of Adunni finding her “louding voice,” making herself heard in a world that wants her silence. Since her mother died, her father has been drinking more and taking care of his family less, not paying the rent and putting them at risk of losing their shelter. He trades Adunni for food and money to an older taxi driver who has two other wives, neither of whom has given him a son. Adunni resists marriage to the taxi driver with all of her soul because she wants to become a teacher. Her education was short-lived, but her love of learning pushes her to reach further and be more. With the value placed on males in their culture, Adunni’s husband expects her to have a boy soon after the marriage. The jealousy between the wives over who will bear their husband a son frequently leads to violence. That along with the nightly “roughing” (read rape) by her husband makes Adunni long for a way out. Unexpectedly, the death of one of the other wives gives her the opportunity to escape, though the “free” she wants is not quite as simple as she’d hoped. In a society where women have no agency, Adunni is dependent on strangers, few of whom have her best interests in mind. Despite the voices telling her that her life has no value, Adunni keeps dreaming and working to get an education. More ...

The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré In the Nigerian village where fourteen-year-old Adunni lives, girls and women are treated as commodities. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is the story of Adunni finding her “louding voice,” making herself heard in a world that wants her silence. Since her mother died, her father has been drinking more and taking care of his family less, not paying the rent and putting them at risk of losing their shelter. He trades Adunni for food and money to an older taxi driver who has two other wives, neither of whom has given him a son. Adunni resists marriage to the taxi driver with all of her soul because she wants to become a teacher. Her education was short-lived, but her love of learning pushes her to reach further and be more. With the value placed on males in their culture, Adunni’s husband expects her to have a boy soon after the marriage. The jealousy between the wives over who will bear their husband a son frequently leads to violence. That along with the nightly “roughing” (read rape) by her husband makes Adunni long for a way out. Unexpectedly, the death of one of the other wives gives her the opportunity to escape, though the “free” she wants is not quite as simple as she’d hoped. In a society where women have no agency, Adunni is dependent on strangers, few of whom have her best interests in mind. Despite the voices telling her that her life has no value, Adunni keeps dreaming and working to get an education. More ...

Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she was exposed to many households—including her own—that employed young girls as housemaids. These girls were usually brought to Lagos from small villages or other countries, and it was common for their employers to mistreat them. It was in part her experiences with these girls, their stories, and the way they used language that inspired Daré to write The Girl with the Louding Voice. After Daré’s parents divorced, her mother raised her and her brother. Their mother instilled in Daré the importance of education and ensured that her children received the best education possible. Daré was educated at the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2000 to pursue a law degree at Wolverhampton University, an MSc in International Project Management at Glasgow Caledonian University, and later, an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice is her first novel. The unpublished manuscript that would later become the novel won the 2018 Bath Novel Award and was a finalist for the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Daré lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters. As of 2020, she oversees app development at a publishing firm. The real-life issue of child marriage in Nigeria features prominently in Daré’s novel. According to a 2018 UNICEF report, there are an estimated 22 million child brides living in Nigeria, which also has the largest number...

“N igeria is a country located in West Africa”: so begins the prologue of Abi Daré’s debut novel. The prologue is a brief excerpt from The Book of Nigerian Facts, supposedly published in 2014. Though this book is fictional, the facts it gives are real. It states: “As the 6th largest crude oil exporter in the world, and with a GDP of $568.5 billion, Nigeria is the richest country in Africa. Sadly, over 100 million Nigerians live in poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.” It seems a curious place to start a novel. Imagine John Lanchester’s Capital opening with this quote from a Nevertheless, I turn the page and meet Adunni, our protagonist. Adunni is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a small town several hours’ drive from Lagos. Although she is a minor, she is about to be illegally married off to raise money for her father. Her bride price will be used to pay the family’s rent, among other things. In many ways, her tale is one of woe. Her mother, who championed her right to an education, is dead. She is raped by her “husband”, who has a daughter her age. Through a series of unfortunate events, she ends up in Lagos as the servant of Big Madam. Although called a “house-girl”, she is really a slave because her wages are withheld from her and given to her procurer. Despite her hardships, Adunni is determined to become a success, and believes that the surest route is by securing a western education. This is a trope used in classic Nigerian children’s books such as Onuora Nzekwu’...

“N igeria is a country located in West Africa”: so begins the prologue of Abi Daré’s debut novel. The prologue is a brief excerpt from The Book of Nigerian Facts, supposedly published in 2014. Though this book is fictional, the facts it gives are real. It states: “As the 6th largest crude oil exporter in the world, and with a GDP of $568.5 billion, Nigeria is the richest country in Africa. Sadly, over 100 million Nigerians live in poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.” It seems a curious place to start a novel. Imagine John Lanchester’s Capital opening with this quote from a Nevertheless, I turn the page and meet Adunni, our protagonist. Adunni is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a small town several hours’ drive from Lagos. Although she is a minor, she is about to be illegally married off to raise money for her father. Her bride price will be used to pay the family’s rent, among other things. In many ways, her tale is one of woe. Her mother, who championed her right to an education, is dead. She is raped by her “husband”, who has a daughter her age. Through a series of unfortunate events, she ends up in Lagos as the servant of Big Madam. Although called a “house-girl”, she is really a slave because her wages are withheld from her and given to her procurer. Despite her hardships, Adunni is determined to become a success, and believes that the surest route is by securing a western education. This is a trope used in classic Nigerian children’s books such as Onuora Nzekwu’...

The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré In the Nigerian village where fourteen-year-old Adunni lives, girls and women are treated as commodities. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is the story of Adunni finding her “louding voice,” making herself heard in a world that wants her silence. Since her mother died, her father has been drinking more and taking care of his family less, not paying the rent and putting them at risk of losing their shelter. He trades Adunni for food and money to an older taxi driver who has two other wives, neither of whom has given him a son. Adunni resists marriage to the taxi driver with all of her soul because she wants to become a teacher. Her education was short-lived, but her love of learning pushes her to reach further and be more. With the value placed on males in their culture, Adunni’s husband expects her to have a boy soon after the marriage. The jealousy between the wives over who will bear their husband a son frequently leads to violence. That along with the nightly “roughing” (read rape) by her husband makes Adunni long for a way out. Unexpectedly, the death of one of the other wives gives her the opportunity to escape, though the “free” she wants is not quite as simple as she’d hoped. In a society where women have no agency, Adunni is dependent on strangers, few of whom have her best interests in mind. Despite the voices telling her that her life has no value, Adunni keeps dreaming and working to get an education. More ...

Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she was exposed to many households—including her own—that employed young girls as housemaids. These girls were usually brought to Lagos from small villages or other countries, and it was common for their employers to mistreat them. It was in part her experiences with these girls, their stories, and the way they used language that inspired Daré to write The Girl with the Louding Voice. After Daré’s parents divorced, her mother raised her and her brother. Their mother instilled in Daré the importance of education and ensured that her children received the best education possible. Daré was educated at the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2000 to pursue a law degree at Wolverhampton University, an MSc in International Project Management at Glasgow Caledonian University, and later, an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice is her first novel. The unpublished manuscript that would later become the novel won the 2018 Bath Novel Award and was a finalist for the 2018 Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Daré lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters. As of 2020, she oversees app development at a publishing firm. The real-life issue of child marriage in Nigeria features prominently in Daré’s novel. According to a 2018 UNICEF report, there are an estimated 22 million child brides living in Nigeria, which also has the largest number...

The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré In the Nigerian village where fourteen-year-old Adunni lives, girls and women are treated as commodities. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré is the story of Adunni finding her “louding voice,” making herself heard in a world that wants her silence. Since her mother died, her father has been drinking more and taking care of his family less, not paying the rent and putting them at risk of losing their shelter. He trades Adunni for food and money to an older taxi driver who has two other wives, neither of whom has given him a son. Adunni resists marriage to the taxi driver with all of her soul because she wants to become a teacher. Her education was short-lived, but her love of learning pushes her to reach further and be more. With the value placed on males in their culture, Adunni’s husband expects her to have a boy soon after the marriage. The jealousy between the wives over who will bear their husband a son frequently leads to violence. That along with the nightly “roughing” (read rape) by her husband makes Adunni long for a way out. Unexpectedly, the death of one of the other wives gives her the opportunity to escape, though the “free” she wants is not quite as simple as she’d hoped. In a society where women have no agency, Adunni is dependent on strangers, few of whom have her best interests in mind. Despite the voices telling her that her life has no value, Adunni keeps dreaming and working to get an education. More ...