Nigerian author Abi Daré has a powerful and heart-wrenching novel coming out in 2024 titled And So I Roar. Set to be published by Dutton in August, the novel explores the important stories told by two plucky teenage girls in Port Hartcourt, Nigeria.

The cover of the novel is just as mesmerizing as the plot. Featuring sketches of two Black girls at opposing corners of the cover, we see the first girl tenderly gazing down at the other one who has her mouth open as if just about to share something important with the viewer. The second girl’s facial expression is a definite allusion to Daré’s bestselling debut novel The Girl with the Louding Voice.

This becomes clearer when the synopsis of the book reveals that Adunni, the main character from The Girl with the Louding Voice is making a comeback in And So I Roar, but with a twist as her life is interwoven with that of young Tia. Read the full synopsis below:

When Tia accidentally overhears a whispered conversation between her mother—terminally ill and lying in a hospital bed in Port Harcourt, Nigeria—and her aunt, the repercussions will send her on a desperate quest to uncover a secret her mother has been hiding for nearly two decades.

Back home in Lagos a few days later, Adunni, a plucky fourteen-year-old runaway, is lying awake in Tia’s guest room. Having escaped from her rural village in a desperate bid to seek a better future, she’s finally found refuge with Tia, who has helped her enroll in school. It’s always been Adunni’s dream to get an education, and she’s bursting with excitement.

Suddenly, there’s a horrible knocking at the front gate. . . .

It’s only the beginning of a harrowing ordeal that will see Tia forced to make a terrible choice between protecting Adunni or finally learning the truth behind the secret her mother has hidden from her. And Adunni will learn that her “louding voice,” as she calls it, is more important than ever, as she must advocate to save not only herself but all the young women of her home village, Ikati.

If she succeeds, she may transform Ikati into a place where girls are allowed to claim the bright futures they deserve—and shout their stories to the world.

Based on the stunning book cover and the fascinating story about the drama and intrigue surrounding the two young female protagonists, we are certain Daré’s new book will be an instant bestseller.

Abi Daré is a Nigerian author and public speaker who lives in Essex, England. In 2018, she won the Bath Novel Award, and was a finalist in the Literary Consultancy Pen Factor 2018. Translated into over 19 languages, her debut novel The Girl With The Louding Voice (2020) was a New York Times Bestseller, a Read with Jenna choice, shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for first time novelists, and included in The Observer‘s list of 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2020.

Congrats to Daré on the upcoming novel! Preorder here.