And So I Roar by Abi Daré

 

Somehow I ended up with an
advance proof copy of the novel
not intended for resale

Abi Daré was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to the UK to attend university. After obtaining a degree in law and a Master's in international project management she took a Masters in creative writing - the thesis of which went on to be her first novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice.

The Girl with the Louding Voice caused something of a sensation, even before its publication, winning the Bath Novel Award as a manuscript and a slew of awards once it came out, becoming a New York Times bestseller.

And So I Roar is a sequel to The Girl with the Louding Voice, and follows a teenage Nigerian girl, Adunni, as she returns to her home village, from where she was sold into a marriage at the age of fourteen.

Daré at Dudley Council’s
Black History Month
celebration 

I haven't read Louding Voice, but this didn't seem to matter. Daré's writing style is clean and precise, and I was soon up to speed with the characters, and though unaware of their backstories, their personalities shone through.

Adunni speaks in Daré calls non-standard English - a mix of broken and pidgin English - learnt partly from education, partly from experience. Prose written in vernacular is a tricky beast. A balance must be struck between authenticity and readability, and Daré gets this pretty much spot on. Adunni's English did vary at times floating in and out of the colloquial, but then everyone's does.

So far, so good... Unfortunately as the novel progressed I became less and less taken with it. The pace seemed to move along at a snail's pace, it is not a short novel at 400 page and yet very little actually happens. It is not as if the ponderous pace is put to use with a deep dive into the personalities of the characters. Once they had been so swiftly established they didn't really go anywhere - there is one twist, but it is pretty obvious.

And when we reach the climax of the novel, it all gets a bit nonsensical (spoilers to follow). One girl randomly rolls towards a cliff edge every time there is a loud bang (no, i don't know why either). Adunni gives an inarticulate scream which for some reason wins her the respect of the villagers (this seems like it was only inserted to give the book a title) and follows it with an insipid speech  saying exactly what she's been saying all through, but now she wins everyone over and saves the day. All in all a disappointing end to novel that never really got off the ground. It's fine, but no better.

 ★★★☆☆