• The Girl with the Louding Voice

  • A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)
  • By: Abi Daré
  • Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
  • Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (5,852 ratings)

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The Girl with the Louding Voice  By  cover art

The Girl with the Louding Voice

By: Abi Daré
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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Publisher's summary

An instant New York Times best seller

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick!

"Brave, fresh...unforgettable." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A celebration of girls who dare to dream." (Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers, an Oprah’s Book Club pick)

Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize and recommended by The New York Times, Marie Claire, Vogue, Essence, PopSugar, Daily Mail, Electric Literature, Red, Stylist, Daily Kos, Library Journal, The Everygirl, and Read It Forward!

The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her path, Adunni never loses sight of her goal of escaping the life of poverty she was born into so that she can build the future she chooses for herself - and help other girls like her do the same.

Her spirited determination to find joy and hope in even the most difficult circumstances imaginable will “break your heart and then put it back together again” (Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show) even as Adunni shows us how one courageous young girl can inspire us all to reach for our dreams...and maybe even change the world.

©2020 Abi Daré (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Adunni’s brave, fresh voice powerfully articulates a resounding anger toward Africa’s toxic patriarchy.... Daré draws the reader in with a vivid character whose dire circumstances are contrasted with her natural creativity (she keeps her spirits up by composing comic songs imagining a fabulous future) and her undying will to survive.... Throughout her harrowing coming-of-age journey, told with verve and compassion, Adunni never loses the ‘louding voice’ that makes Daré’s story, and her protagonist, so unforgettable.” (The New York Times Book Review)

"[A] compelling debut." (Ms. Magazine, "Feminist Books Coming out in 2020")

"A heart-warming, enlightening novel... Through the moving story of a girl’s persistent struggle to acquire an education, The Girl with the Louding Voice brings deep, significant issues into focus." (BookPage)

What listeners say about The Girl with the Louding Voice

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what a great story about overcoming your oppressio

I absolutely enjoyed the story the narrator was phenomenal it felt as if I were right there in the countryside and the big city of Legos with her it was amazing absolutely amazing

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I keep hearing her voice - love love

So stunning and compelling and a world of women and survival and devastation. The writing was deceivingly simple and the performance was breathtaking. Like, walking on a tight rope, the pole in the hands holding two buckets of love instead of water. Balancing. Falling. Catching. One inch at a time. Gorgeous.

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Loved It

The best book I've listened to in a long time. kept me engaged and I didn't want to end

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Excellent

The reader of this book was awesome, her accent was spot on. Listening to this made the book special..

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All around fantastic!

This well written book not only has an interesting and informative story line but was made even better by the incredible narration by Adjoa Andoh. It helped me realize how very little I know about Nairobi and the people. I thought Abi did an artful job of weaving in facts about Nairobi while maintaining the authentic voice of Adunni. I will recommend this book to all the readers I know!

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Heart Breaking

I was so bummed out ended. long story. I was hoping there would have been more about her life after all of the trauma... her schooling. some sort of happiness. in some ways, as good as the story is, it is quite depressing. Many of the characters are disgusting. Hard to wrap my mind around the level of depravity.

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Unforgettable story of courage

This story about the life of a young girl from a small village in Nigeria was one I won’t soon forget.

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Rich and Powerful, Poor and desperate Nigeria

Beautiful, young Adonai is daughter, then wife, then runaway into servitude. Still she keeps kindness and hope in her heart. Beautiful story and belief even when it seems so hopeless.

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Wow!

I truly enjoyed listening to this book. Abi Daré, the author, is a wonderful storyteller who uses rich descriptive language. The story covers the whole gamut of the human experience and emotions as Adunni tells her story of her life in Nigeria as a child bride and modern day slave. The narrator, Adjoa Andoh truly brings the characters to life. Put this on your listening list now.

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Incredible

This book brings the characters to life like nothing I’ve read before. It’s an emotionally tough story to get through but so, so good.

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