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A review by feifeii
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It’s refreshing and reflective at the same time to read the own-voice story of Adunni to get to understand more about race, gender and class issues in our world from another perspective.
Through the lens of an innocent, naive black girl growing up in the rural village of Nigeria, with her constant struggle and maltreatment in the village and Lago, this offers readers to challenge racial, gender and class inequality and discrimination we may get used to through socialisation and therefore becoming unaware of even when they are actually problematic.
It’s refreshing to read a story set in Nigeria where Daré offers to portray the book with lots of local cultural features
The characterisation of our heroine Adunni is strong with the author’s deliberate choice of dictions and syntax to first portray Adunni as an naive village teenage who knows nothing about the outside world and thus create conflict and raise questions as she gets to meet the more sophisticated characters in the book. As the story goes, Adunni is gaining more insight about the real world to be more sophisticated, where we noticed the narrative gets smoother and formulated with more standard English words and syntax. It’s also the achievement of Bette use of English as language which allows her to have her own voice as the ending tries to conclude.
Overall the plot is simple and straightforward. What I appreciate about this book is the characterisation and the touch of Nigerian and related facts portrayed for some cultural understanding.
Another interesting point on the naming of the previous housemaid , Rebecca. This is probably an unusual name for a girl from Agan. With the mystery around her and what’s happened to her in story, this reminds me of “Rebecca” from the novel by Daphne du Maurier.
Through the lens of an innocent, naive black girl growing up in the rural village of Nigeria, with her constant struggle and maltreatment in the village and Lago, this offers readers to challenge racial, gender and class inequality and discrimination we may get used to through socialisation and therefore becoming unaware of even when they are actually problematic.
It’s refreshing to read a story set in Nigeria where Daré offers to portray the book with lots of local cultural features
The characterisation of our heroine Adunni is strong with the author’s deliberate choice of dictions and syntax to first portray Adunni as an naive village teenage who knows nothing about the outside world and thus create conflict and raise questions as she gets to meet the more sophisticated characters in the book. As the story goes, Adunni is gaining more insight about the real world to be more sophisticated, where we noticed the narrative gets smoother and formulated with more standard English words and syntax. It’s also the achievement of Bette use of English as language which allows her to have her own voice as the ending tries to conclude.
Overall the plot is simple and straightforward. What I appreciate about this book is the characterisation and the touch of Nigerian and related facts portrayed for some cultural understanding.
Another interesting point on the naming of the previous housemaid , Rebecca. This is probably an unusual name for a girl from Agan. With the mystery around her and what’s happened to her in story, this reminds me of “Rebecca” from the novel by Daphne du Maurier.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, Slavery, Racism, and Sexism