The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Daré, Abi. The Girl with the Louding Voice. Penguin Random House, 2020.

The Girl with the Louding Voice takes place in modern day Nigeria and is told through the eyes and narrative voice of a 14-year-old girl named Adunni who lives in a small rural village called Ikati with her father and two brothers. In a cultural landscape where men decide the worth and value of women, Adunni is forced into various situations where her gender constantly undermines her passions and ambition to change the world. Her journey out of these domestic situations of servitude, abuse, and neglect is one of immense self-knowledge and dedication to creating opportunities for other girls to be autonomous.

Chapters 1 to 6 focus on Adunni’s home and family. Adunni’s father is a widowed alcoholic without many economic prospects aside from his daughter’s arranged marriage. Her younger brother, Kayus, is a compassionate boy who supports Adunni’s dreams, while her older brother Born-Boy is more apathetic. Adunni’s father has arranged her marriage to Morufu, a local taxi driver with two wives and 5 daughters. Adunni has dreams to continue school and become a teacher, which her recently deceased mother supported. At her wedding to Morufu, Adunni mourns her reality while her community rejoices.

In Chapters 7 to 12, Adunni gets adjusted to married life, which includes being raped by Morufu, emotionally abused by his first wife, Labake, and befriended by his second very pregnant wife, Khadija. Together, Adunni and Khadija conspire a plan for Adunni to drink a sterilization medicine to avoid pregnancy, a small but important rebellion against her patriarchal reality. After two months of domestic servitude to Morufu, Adunni begins to find some happiness within her mind and self. This comfort is consistently threatened by her husband and Labake’s abuse, but Adunni shows self-awareness in her ability to stay dedicated to her future.

In Chapters 13 to 18, a dramatic development disrupts Adunni’s marital domestic situation entirely. Enduring severe pregnancy pains, Khadija brings Adunni to Kere village to see Bamidele, her pre-marriage lover, to take a spiritual bath in Kere river to prevent the curse of death in childbirth. Khadija’s pain worsens as Bamidele and Adunni carry her to the river. Bamidele abandons them and doesn’t return before Khadija dies. Adunni searches for Bamidele, only to find his pregnant wife who denies Bamidele’s whereabouts and gathers her neighbors to force Adunni away. Adunni returns to her father’s house seeking help, but despite his promise to protect her while he tells her story to the village chief, she fears her village’s justice system and runs away from Ikati village.

In Chapters 19 to 24, Adunni arrives Iya’s house in Agan village, an old friend of Adunni’s mother. Iya offers Adunni asylum until her brother Kola arrives to bring Adunni to a mysterious job in Lagos, which she accepts out of desperation. The night before departure, Kayus and Papa appear, desperately searching for Adunni. When Kayus spots her hiding, the siblings say a quiet tearful goodbye. Adunni and Kola drive to Lagos, encounter the bustling metropolis, and go to meet Big Madam, an aggressively authoritative woman. Adunni meets Kofi, the house chef, who explains her position as housemaid, and Adunni begins her new domestic life.

In Chapters 25 to 30, Adunni becomes acquainted with Big Madam’s house and her domestic role, which demands obedience and repetitive work. Adunni quickly becomes acquainted with the threat of physical and emotional violence from Big Madam, and of sexual abuse from Big Daddy. Exploring ways to avoid this violence, she finds peace in secretly reading books in the house-library. Kofi tells Adunni about a scholarship opportunity for young female Nigerian housemaids who desire an education, an opportunity which would save Adunni from her vulnerable situation entirely. At an extravagant party Big Madam hosts for the Wellington Road Wives Association, Adunni meets Tia Dada, a young woman who defends Adunni against the other wives’ rudeness. They begin to build a mutually respectful friendship.

In Chapters 31 to 36, the Adeoti’s leave to visit family, leaving Adunni free to continue her scholarship application, begin daily English lessons and deepen her friendship with Tia. Tia expresses her newfound desire for having children. One evening, Big Daddy returns and drunkenly tries to enter Adunni’s bedroom but is threatened away by Kofi. When Big Madam returns, Adunni asks for a lock to her bedroom which sparks a violent fight between the Adeoti couple and causes Adunni to retreat into her work.

In an attempt to keep Tia and Adunni’s relationship secret in Chapters 37 to 42, Tia and her husband ask the Adeoti’s to take Adunni on shopping trips, to which Big Madam hesitantly agrees. Adunni encounters Big Daddy who drunkenly offers her money, which she confidently refuses. After shopping with Tia at the overstimulating marketplace, Adunni writes her application essay, a truthful story of her journey through the domestic slave-trade. Big Madam brings her to her luxurious fabric store, where Adunni meets Chisom, another housemaid who knew Rebecca, the Adeoti’s previous housemaid who left the position in suspicious circumstances that make Adunni worried for her safety.

In Chapters 43 to 48, Adunni goes to the Adeoti’s church and sees Chisom at the housemaid’s service, but still cannot extract the truth about Rebecca. Tia and her mother-in-law bring Adunni to Tia’s fertility-bringing bath. The ceremony quickly tumbles out of control, and with secrecy surrounding the holy-ground, Tia is stripped and beaten by four hypnotized women.

In section 9, Big Daddy attempts to rape Adunni, but Big Madam saves her and exiles him beyond locked gates. Big Madam attempts to convict him with the police in the name of protecting her housemaids but is tragically dissuaded. Big Madam tells the truth about Rebecca’s departure before Tia collects Adunni, bringing the news that she has won the scholarship, and escorts her away from her domestic situation and into her brighter future.