Nigerian author Abi Daré’s novel And So I Roar comes out today with an audiobook narrated by Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh! 

And So I Roar, named one of Amazon Book Review’s “Most anticipated books of summer 2024,” has received three highly-coveted starred reviews and was praised by Booklist as a “gut-wrenching reminder that every woman has a lion inside her waiting to break free.” This success comes on the heels of The Girl With the Louding Voice, Daré’s first novel, which quickly became a New York Times bestseller and won the 2018 Bath Novel Award.

The excitement around Daré’s second novel has only increased with news of Adjoa Andoh’s involvement with the audiobook. Andoh, best known for playing Lady Agatha Danbury in the extremely popular Netflix period romance Bridgerton, has narrated over 150 audiobooks, including Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, and Daré first novel. Her highly-acclaimed work in audio roles has earned her the title “undisputed queen of audio and radio drama” from Penguin Random House.

We have written about Andoh’s extensive work as an audiobook narrator and her attachment to her Ghanian heritage in an earlier article. We are so excited to hear Andoh bring this thrilling and beautiful new novel to life!

Find a full synopsis of And So I Roar below and order a physical or audio copy of the book here. 

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.