I want to have a voice inside society. A louding voice.–Adunni
These days, it seems like I now have a timetable for watching dramas and reading books. After I complete a series, weirdly, I find myself itching to read a book instead of starting another kdrama. Somehow, that’s how I've been surviving as bibliophile and an ardent movie lover, lol. So, according to my weird roaster, it was time for me to read a book since I just finished the series I had been watching yesterday. I went to my e-library and scrolled through.
To be very honest, it took me quite some time before I was able to settle on this book considering I just wanted to avoid a book with smut which is very hard to come by these days. I miss the days when we read books for the plot and not the smut. After letting my eyes scan all the books and my brain explore the possible meanings behind most of their titles, I found ‘The girl with the louding voice’.
What did it mean to have a louding voice? I didn’t know it then but I knew I needed answers. I clicked on it and was drawn into the world of Adunni.
I am human, of value, Important – Adunni
The Girl with the louding voice is a book written by Abi Dare. It is a 306 paged book and consists of 56 chapters.
The book tells the story of Adunni, an uneducated girl living in Ikate, an undeveloped town in one of the Yoruba speaking states in the country of Nigeria. She is portrayed as very intelligent and a lover of education but after the death of their mother who was the breadwinner of the family, she is forced to sit at home amd wait till she is 15 years of age and get married.
She keeps on persuading her father for her to go to school so she can fulfill her dreams of becoming a teacher who will give the growing young girls in the society, a voice of their own. But all her dreams are shattered when her dad breaks the news to her that she will be getting married off to a man named Morufu in few days time. Her father’s reason being that if she doesn’t want him and her junior brothers to die soon, she should get married to Morufu and deliver them from the shackles of poverty.
She tries and tries to talk her dad out of it, she even seeks the help of her friend to help plead with her dad, all to no avail. Everybody in the village seems to be happy with her dad and Morufu’s choice. Her brother being the only person that is against it. Although she considered running away but rebuked the thought when she remembered the story of how her townsmen tortured a woman who tried it by locking her in a room for 106 days which later turned the lady into a dementia patient.
She later gets married off to Morufu and starts to live life as a third wife. That still doesn’t deter her dreams of becoming a teacher one day.
A day is coming when my voice will sound so loud over all Nigeria and the world of it, when I will be able to make other girls find a louding voice of their own – Adunni.
First of all, I will like to appreciate this author for doing something I never came across in all the books and movies I’ve read. When I was younger, anytime I watched a movie where the characters are supposed illiterates, I always wondered how they were able to construct proper sentences, make good use of their tenses and the likes considering English is not our native language. After sometime, I began accepting the fact that they’re probably writing or acting it in English to accommodate everyone. But this author, wrote this book in Adunni’s pov, littered with grammatical errors, improper use of tenses and stuffs like that. I was completely impressed because I didn’t think writers did such a thing. This alone, made me love the book.
The book which centers on the plight of the girl child in the underdeveloped parts of Africa was a completely interesting read. I loved how it seemed to talk about various women problems. From the sufferings of unmarried women in the society to childlessness and to child marriage.
I also loved Adunni’s determination. She wasn’t portrayed as a weak character even after everything she had gone through. I think I loved that the most about the book.
Rating; 8/10.
Although the incorrect use of English might serve as barrier to some readers, I’ll recommend this book most especially as a form of motivation to those women who want their voice to be heard in the society, who want to be known as someone in the society, who are considering giving up because of one situation or the other they find themselves in life, so they can draw strength from Adunni and continue the race.
Many thanks for reading.
