Inspiring and hopeful, Audacious Voices is a collection of twelve stories from alumnae/alumni of WILL*, a feminist model for education. Each author featured in this book is working, in their own distinct way, to make their communities more equitable—and their stories illustrate how different elements of the WILL* program influence and inspire them to act with such intentionality. Author-activist Courtney Martin writes in The New Better Off that the times we live in may break our hearts, but they don’t have to break our spirit; it’s that spirit that these stories capture, alongside the power of a feminist educational program that engenders such spirit. Emphasizing hope, empathy, resiliency, and solutions by showcasing the transformative power of inclusive leadership, advocacy, and mentorship, Audacious Voices reminds us that real change is possible, even in the current political climate.

In the wealthy, polygamous household of Jeremiah Dike, first-wife Helen feels she has not been accorded the status she deserves, because unlike Jeremiah’s younger wives, she has not born him a son. But Helen is a woman who is used to getting exactly what she wants, and so she hits on a plan...to take a wife for herself and to declare that wife’s son as her own. That’s when pregnant, sixteen-year-old Rebecca joins the Dike household, escaping the scandal of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, by becoming Helen’s wife. But when the expected son turns out to be a girl, Helen’s plan requires some major rethinking. This state of affairs results in an enormously complicated family dynamic, in which white-hot conflicts arise, unexpected bonds are forged, and vast reservoirs of love are tapped. Peopled with the colourful, diverse, and frequently oppositional members of an extended Igbo family in the years leading up to and including the Nigerian Civil War, My Mother’s Wife paints an indelible picture of a unique and fascinating culture, which will come to face a genocide that threatens to destroy it.

Reproduction of the original.