Publisher's Synopsis
All you have are your words.
AN OBSERVER HOTTEST TIPPED DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2020
A RED MAGAZINE CAN'T WAIT TO READ BOOK OF 2020
A BBC CONTEMPORARY FICTION BOOK OF 2020
A STYLIST BEST BOOK OF 2020
A NEW YORK TIMES 14 NEW BOOKS TO WATCH FOR IN FEBRUARY
'A stunning novel - original, beautiful and powerful' ROSAMUND LUPTON
Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education.
As the only daughter of a broke father, she is a valuable commodity. Removed from school and sold as a third wife to an old man, Adunni's life amounts to this: four goats, two bags of rice, some chickens and a new TV. When unspeakable tragedy swiftly strikes in her new home, she is secretly sold as a domestic servant to a household in the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where no one will talk about the strange disappearance of her predecessor, Rebecca. No one but Adunni...
As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless servant, fourteen-year-old Adunni is repeatedly told that she is nothing. But Adunni won't be silenced. She is determined to find her voice - in a whisper, in song, in broken English - until she can speak for herself, for the girls like Rebecca who came before, and for all the girls who will follow.
EARLY PRAISE FOR THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE:
'A true original, this will open your eyes' COSMOPOLITAN
'An unforgettable novel' JEANINE CUMMINS, AUTHOR OF AMERICAN DIRT
