BOOK REVIEW | A Girl Is a Body of Water — Meonicorn

a girl is a body of water.jpeg — NAME OF UK EDITION: The First Woman
RATING: 5/5
AUTHOR: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
ISBN: 1951142047
ISBN13: 9781951142049
PUBLISHER: Tin House Books
RELEASE DATE: September 1st, 2020
PAGES, 560
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
SETTINGS: Uganda

I read this book for the BookTube Prize of 2021, Octafinals Fiction group C.

This is my favorite book in that group, and I can’t stop thinking about it after I finish reading.

This is a historical fiction novel, a coming of age story, set in Uganda in the 1970s during the Idi Amin regime. Starting from longing for her absent mother, we follow a girl called Kirabo from when she was a teenager at 12 to become a young woman at age of 19.

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Amazingly, the book packed so many rich backgrounds of Uganda within the story of Kirabo, but in a nonpushing way. For example, when looking back to even when her simple innocent play scene with her childhood playmates is a natural showing of colorism, slavery, and the patriarchy of the system. We learn about the culture and traditional values with Kirabo, and we also see her growing up with her confusions about the world, her background, the insecurity because of motherlessness, and her realization along the way. As readers, we are also absorbing all the histories from Ugandan clan cultures.

Mwenkanonkano (means feminism) is an important theme throughout the book, it was delivered in different aspects. From the mythologies of how men and women were born that the elderly told Kirabo, to the western concept of “feminism” idea passed to Kirabo by people who used to live overseas. Of course, given the time being, the conflict between feminist actions is conflicted with the traditional values of the clan, and the ideas are usually pushed deep down in the character’s mind. The tensions between both are represented incisively. Most importantly, it’s portrayed in every character and event that happened in the book —— women silencing under the traditional pressure, “rebellious” women who chose to live their lives, things Kirabo encountered at school, and how women turn against each other over vary of things.

In the background, the shadow of Idi Amin regime was around and impacting people’s lives. The book didn’t expand the discussion of politics and the despot, who was called “butcher of Uganda”, but the frightening atmosphere was lingering throughout the story, characters were breathing in the depressed air, and adjusting their behaviors according to the war. The terror of war is a great addition to the already rich described history and culture of the book.

Another topic that was seemly wrote on briefly, but it’s rooted in the tension between characters is salary. How people plunder land and people from others, affected the classes in the relationships among different generations.

Besides the different themes of the book, the writing is fluent. In the beginning, the storytelling has a magical realism feeling, with lyrical languages and mystic stories and mythologies, all related to the craving of Kirabo. After she experienced more, the language became more realistic but still vivid. It’s such an enjoyable read and although I read it in March, easily one of the best books of the year.

If I have to say one thing I think the book can improve, is to put the characters' relationship list in the front of the book, or tell readers in the front of its existence. The book has so many characters, although it’s not hard to know their relationships, I still feel a little bit lost when I saw the character list *after* I read the book.