Abi Daré, And So I Roar

Equally tender and powerful, Daré’s evocative follow up to her highly acclaimed debut The Girl With the Louding Voice finds Adunni settling into her new life and school in Lagos, until dramatic news forces her to return to her home village.

This event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author.

Tuesday 3rd June, 7.00pm
Venue: Grays Library, Thameside Complex, Orsett Road, Grays, RM17 5DX
Tickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students, Under 27s and Unwaged)
Box Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948

And So I Roar by Abi Daré

‘Abi Daré is a novelist of great power, wit, and invention. She never misses a step, never drops a sentence, never takes a wrong narrative turn. Her characters burn in my memory forever, as if they were people I had known— and will forever care about. Daré is not only gifted, she is also a gift.’ – Elizabeth Gilbert (#1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love)

Plucky fourteen-year-old Adunni is in Lagos, excited to finally enrol in school. Having escaped her rural village in a desperate bid to seek a better future, she’s found refuge with Tia, a kind and brilliant woman on her own troubled journey of self-discovery. But it’s not so simple to run away from your past. On the night before she is due to join her new classmates for her first lesson, a terrible knocking at the front gate summons Adunni back to her home village, Ikati, where her dramatic story of resilience first begun.

As Tia frantically tries to protect her from an uncertain fate, Adunni must try to save not only herself but all the young women of her village, and transform Ikati into a place where girls are allowed to claim the bright futures they deserve – and roar their stories to the world.

Order a copy of And So I Roar by Abi Daré at bookshop.org

The Story So Far…

The Girl With the Louding Voice was an instant New York Times bestseller, was nominated for the Desmond Elliott Prize, the 2020 British Bookseller Awards Debut of the Year and the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award. It was a Waterstones Book of the Month and a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in the UK and became a runaway international bestseller, selling over 500,000 copies around the world.

Abi counts Malala Yousafzai, Dolly Parton, Kiley Reid, Rosamund Lupton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elizabeth Day and Maggie O’Farrell among her fans.

Abi Daré

Photo of Abi Daré © Ellie Smith

Abi Daré was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and holds a degree in law from the University of Wolverhampton, an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. Her debut novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice, was a New York Times and international bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book Club read and was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. It has been translated into twenty-one languages. In 2023, Abi established The Louding Voice Foundation to provide scholarships and empowerment programs for women and girls in underserved
communities in Nigeria. She lives in Essex with her family.

Instagram: @abidare_author | Twitter/X: @abidare_author

Abi Daré on writing And So I Roar

I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I reflect on the extraordinary journey of The Girl with the Louding Voice, a novel that has sparked change in ways I could never have envisioned. Adunni’s story has transcended borders and resonated with readers from all walks of life, and I am amazed at the journey the book has gone on, from becoming a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic, to being called one of Dolly Parton’s and Malala’s favourite books of 2020.

But what has truly been remarkable and humbling, are the tales of resilience, hope, and empowerment that readers have shared with me. Like the grandmother in the United States who decided to return to school in her old age, or the young housemaid in Nigeria who has been inspired to complete her education. Or the student at a UK university who named her first car Adunni because she failed her driving test so many times and simply wouldn’t give up because Adunni wouldn’t. Or the Filipino woman—the trailblazer in her family to pursue education—who clasped my hands and shed tears after my talk at Harvard, inspired by Adunni’s unwavering pursuit of her dreams.

And how can I forget the very concerned man who wrote to ask if I had finally escaped a life of slavery and servitude, and if there was a way he could find Big Madam to teach her a lesson.

When people ask why I decided to continue Adunni’s story, I often want to tell them it’s because I am Nigerian—our stories rarely end at part one. Or I might say it’s because I am British, and I’ve lost count of how many James Bond movies I have seen. Or perhaps I’d mention my mother, a professor of taxation who hadn’t read fiction in 30 years until she read my book and then demanded more, subtly suggesting that it must include Adunni’s twenty-year plan for conquering the world.

But the heart-breaking reality is this: There are millions of girls in rural Nigeria today whose lives mirror Adunni’
s, this feisty, sharp-mouthed fourteen-year-old—girls whose stories of resilience and courage in the face of oppression must be told.

And So I Roar begins when a sudden knock at the gate threatens to unravel everything Adunni has worked for on the night before she is set to restart her much-desired education. Meanwhile, Tia, Adunni’s older and more educated friend, discovers a life-altering secret and must choose between helping Adunni and the girls in her village or confronting her own past.

Set mainly in Adunni’s village, Ikati, And So I Roar captures the same spirit as my debut, The Girl with the Louding Voice, while introducing new characters and showcasing the devastating effects of climate change, particularly its disproportionate impact on poor rural women. I am thrilled to welcome you back into Adunni’s captivating world alongside Tia and a host of other women and girls whose chorus of Louding Voices—as they roar in their fight against oppression for a brighter future—offers a truly inspiring and unforgettable journey.

Thank you once again for joining me to celebrate the ties that bind us, to amplify the voices of the voiceless, and to push for a world where every girl has the opportunity not just to find her voice, but to roar.