All you have are your words.
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 …
All you have are your words.
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.
Easy to read and hard to put down, our very likable heroine battles misogyny, poverty and exploitation in Nigeria.
Found the first 2/3 hard going but obviously the redemption at the end lightens it.
Funny, sad, inspiring, and beautifully written. ❤️
I'm not sure how this book "reads" since I listened to it, but I think it's probably better suited to an audiobook format. I say that because the protagonist is a young (14 yo) Nigerian girl, so the entire book is written using atypical syntax and grammar (as you might infer from the title). The person who performed it had a beautiful accent that really made it come to life.
This book was (for me) about two things: 1) The unstoppable spirit of a spunky girl who dreamed of learning, and 2) How shitty the culture is for women in Nigeria. It's definitely worth reading.
