The Girl with the Louding Voice

The Girl with the Louding Voice is a 2020 novel by Abi Daré. The book portrays the life of a young Nigerian girl named Adunni who grows up in a small rural village in difficult circumstances. A New York Times Best Seller, The Girl with the Louding Voice was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novelists and received a Goodreads Choice Award nomination for Best Fiction.

Plot Summary

Adunni is a 14-year-old Nigerian girl who lives with her poor family in a small village. Her father is an alcoholic and her mother is dead. As the family struggles to pay the rent on their dilapidated home, Adunni’s father arranges for her to marry an elderly taxi driver named Morufu. In exchange, Morufu is willing to pay her father a reasonable sum of money. Adunni does not want to marry Morufu but she has no choice. She marries Morufu and moves into the house he shares with his two other wives and their children. Morufu’s first wife Labake bullies Adunni, but his younger wife Khadija treats her well. Morufu is desperate to have two sons, but all of his children are female. He wants Adunni to give birth to a son. Khadija develops an herbal remedy to stop Adunni from becoming pregnant. She drinks it before having sex with Morufu.

Adunni and Khadija become close friends. Khadija is heavily pregnant and hopes that she will finally give birth to a son. Labake treats Adunni with nothing but contempt, and Morufu only wants her for sex and procreation. One day, Khadija feels sick and asks Adunni to accompany her to the midwife. Adunni agrees. Khadija reveals that they are actually going to visit her baby’s real father. Panicked at the prospect of giving birth to another daughter, she asked an old boyfriend named Bamidele to impregnate her.

They seek out Bamidele in a neighboring village. He explains that the women in his family must perform a ritual, otherwise they will be cursed. He leads Khadija to a river but then runs away. Khadija lays down and dies beside the river. Worried that she will be accused of murder, Adunni she runs away. She tries to explain the situation to her father but he does not understand. She spends the night hiding with an elderly friend of her dead mother, whose brother Kola agrees to sneak her away to the Nigerian city of Lagos. He will arrange a job for her with a wealthy family. Desperate, Adunni agrees to take the job.

Kola drives Adunni to Lagos. He shows her the size and the spectacle of the city before they arrive at Big Madam’s mansion. Big Madam is a rich business woman who owns a fabric shop in the city. Her husband, Big Daddy, is a disgraced executive who leeches money from his wife and spends it on affairs, alcohol, and gambling. Adunni mistakenly believes that Big Madam might put her through school but soon discovers the reality of her new job. She spends all of the day cleaning the house for very little money, while Big Madam beats her savagely for the most minor indiscretions. A chef named Kofi also works in the house. He helps Adunni deal with her horrible new job. Adunni is the latest in a long line of mistreated housemaids. The previous girl, Rebecca, vanished mysteriously. Kofi suggests that Adunni apply for a local scholarship which educates young girls. Seeing it as her last chance to attend school, she plans her application.

One day, Big Madam throws a party for the women of the wealthy neighborhood. Adunni serves food but accidently drops a tray, causing Big Madam to beat her with a shoe until she is unconscious. One of the younger neighborhood women, Tia, takes pity on Adunni. Over the coming weeks, Adunni and Tia become friends. Adunni asks Tia to help with her scholarship application. Worried how Big Madam will react, Tia agrees but keeps their meetings secret. Tia also worries about Big Daddy’s sexual advances toward Adunni. One day, Adunni sees Big Madam and Big Daddy fight. Although Big Madam is desperate for her husband to love her, he only treats her with contempt.

As Tia and Adunni spend more time together, they grow close and Tia admits that she and her husband are trying to have a child. Tia asks Adunni to accompany her to a traditional Nigerian ritual, which she feels pressured into attending by her mother-in-law. Adunni agrees. The ritual is little more than a violent beating, and Tia is shocked and bruised. Meanwhile, Adunni worries about her scholarship application. The essay she submitted was a brutal, honest account of her life. Tia read the essay, and her beating during the ritual allows her to sympathize with Adunni.

While his wife is away, Big Daddy tries to rape Adunni, but Big Madam catches him in the act. They fight and she kicks Big Daddy out of the house. Adunni begins to suspect that Rebecca was murdered. She discovers that she won the scholarship so will be going to school. No longer scared of Big Madam, she confronts her about Rebecca. She learns that Big Daddy impregnated Rebecca and then forced her to miscarry. Big Madam then arranged for Rebecca to leave. Adunni chooses to believe her. She leaves the house with Tia to begin her new life.