A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

A special thank you to NetGalley and Tin House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Essentially a coming of age story, A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a brilliant literary work. Set in Uganda in the 1970s, a young girl wants to know who her mother is.

Kirabo has been raised by many women—her grandmother, her best friend, and her many aunts—but the absence of her mother eclipses her. Looking for answers, she begins spending afternoons with Nsuuta, a local witch. Kirabo learns of the force brimming inside her and that the woman who gave birth to her is alive, but not ready to meet.  Nsuuta also explains to Kirabo that she flies out of her body because she has a streak of the “first woman” in her. This is an independent, original state that has been all but lost to women.

Blended with folklore, this unforgettable novel explores family, feminism, and history.

Makumbi is a gorgeous writer with her vivid descriptions and lyrical prose. After a slow start, readers are taken on a beautiful journey through Kirabo's adolescence. There is an unnecessarily large cast of characters that bog down the first part of the book. However, Kirabo and Nsuuta, are well-developed, distinct, and memorable.

Feminism is the central theme of the story, one that is also rich in Ugandan culture and folklore. Makumbi also explores other challenges—gender, class, race—that women faced in 1970's Uganda. Unfortunately many of these issues are still prevalent today.

A Girl is a Body of Water is a sweeping novel that should be savoured. Congratulations, Jennifer, on this wonderful book.

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JENNIFER NANSUBUGA MAKUMBI is a Ugandan novelist and short story writer. She has a PhD from Lancaster University and is a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize. Her first novel, Kintu, won the Kwani Manuscript Project in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. Her story "Let's Tell This Story Properly" won the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Makumi lives in Manchester, UK with her husband, Damian, and her son, Jordan.