The First Woman - Jennifer Makumbi

April 16, 2024

The First Woman (also titled A Girl is a Body of Water) is a novel that follows the life of Kirabo, a 12-year-old Ugandan girl living in Nattetta with her grandparents. There, she is doted on by her whole family: her grandparents, aunties and father. Despite this, she cannot help but wonder about her absent mother, a woman so elusive that none of her family members want to talk about her. As she grows up and starts questioning parts of herself, she decides to seek out answers by forming an unlikely relationship with the village witch: Nsuuta. Nsuuta is a witty, controversial character who defies everything expected of a woman, and through her, Kirabo is introduced to a whole new world.

As we follow along, we explore themes of family, tradition, feminism (mwenkanonkano), friendship, and love. We see Kirabo delve into these themes as she grows up, moves to the city, falls in love and builds friendships, all while discovering herself.

The story is engaging and Makumbi's storytelling skill is a delight. It is a multi-generational tale that leaves a strong impact on the reader. It reads like a love letter to women and the friendships they forge among themselves. I highly recommend it!

Book Quotes:

"Look, not all women are women. Some women, like you, are men. You go to school, get degrees, then get jobs and employ women like me to be women for you at home. Some women, like me, are children. I cannot even be trusted with my own child.’ "

" Nothing takes the sting out of a woman like marriage. And when children arrive, the window closes. Wife, mother, age, and role model – the “respect” that comes with these roles is the water they pour on your fire."

"How can a woman be so heartless?’ Sio asked, as if heartlessness was a male preserve."

"Remember, be a good person, not a good girl. Good girls suffer a lot in this life."

" She looked at Sio’s tears and thought How Zungu. You go and hurt someone, and then when it comes to apologising you help yourself to crying as well. She had seen it in films. Man cheats, man confesses to woman, man cries, and the betrayed woman is robbed of her right to tears."

"And I tell you, child, the police are far worse than God himself. That is why the day you catch your man with another woman, you will go for the woman and not him. My grandmothers called it kweluma. That is when oppressed people turn on each other or on themselves and bite. It is as a form of relief. If you cannot bite your oppressor, you bite yourself."

"When a person wished for the impossible, people would encourage them: Don’t lose hope. With these Europeans coming to our world now, the sun could rise at midnight. Ganda months, which had been transient, coming and going depending on the moods of the seasons, were being replaced by the static European calendar. There was no waiting for the moon or the season to come any more. Months could no longer be late or early, brief or outstay their welcome. "

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The First Woman - Jennifer Makumbi

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