The Girl With The Louding Voice

The Girl With The Louding Voice

Adult fiction
"...I don't want to marry any mens or any boys or any other
person forever, so I ask Papa again, talking real slow so he will be
catching every word I am saying and not mistaking me in his answer:
'Papa, is this bride-price for me or for another person?'
And my Papa, he nod his head slowly, slow, not minding the tears
standing in my eyes or the opening wide of my mouth, as he is saying:
'The bride-price is for you, Adunni. You will be marrying Morufu next
week.'"
Imagine that you are fourteen. You adore school and dream of
being a teacher. Your mother worked hard to pay your school
expenses. Now she is dead. You can no longer go to school. Your
father has just announced that in order to afford rent and food he is
marrying you off to an adult man who already has two wives and four
children.
That's the plight of Adunni, protagonist of Abi Dare's The Girl
With The Louding Voice. After the wedding she's taken into a home in
which one of the senior wives seriously resents her.
"'Husband snatcher, welcome-o,' she says to the candle, breeze
from her mouth making the fire to sleep. 'When I finish with you in
this house, you will curse the day your mother born you. Ashewo
[prostitute].'"
Morufu has taken a third wife because his two others bear him
only daughters. He's promised Adunni's dad a big cash payoff if she
produces his son. Adunni knows that pregnancy will kill off any slim
chance she has of achieving her dream.
It looks like things can't get worse. But they do. When a
tragedy has Adunni running for her life, she finds herself in the
hands of a slave trader who sells her to a woman who makes her work
from morning to night, allows her only one meal a day, and beats her
frequently.
Amazingly, even under the bleakest of situations, Adunni doesn't
give up. You'll find yourself rooting for her.
What's scary is that even though The Girl With The Louding Voice
is a work of fiction, it's based on reality. According to the book,
1) Despite child marriage being illegal in Nigeria, 17% of girls are
married before they're fifteen.
2) Fifteen million Nigerian children are victims of human trafficking.
On a purrrsonal note, well once again we're just about up to a
weekend. I hope your week has been good. Mine surely has. Wednesday
Lisa delivered me my food box. There were excellent treats: plums
(which I haven't had in ages), grapefruit, apples, bottles of flavored
water, and two flavors of fruit filled crescent rolls. Also other
good stuff. And we had a chance to talk which is always precious.
Today my friend Emily who delivers me library books brought me over
nine from Bangor Public Library including two more Simone St. James
mysteries and some hot off the press racism related volumes. I will
have fun reading and reviewing them. That's for sure! She got to
meet Tobago today. She likes my pretty girl. (Jules)
Well I like her too. She brings my hooman all the books she wants.
So I know she is nice. And she is pretty too. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to our good friends, Lisa and Emily.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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