The First Woman

I enjoyed reading Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's short story collection, Manchester Happened, in May last year so leapt at the chance to read an review this new novel of hers, The First Woman, when it appeared on NetGalley. (In America, the same book has been published as A Girl Is A Body Of Water and I do prefer that more enigmatic title.) Set in Idi Amin's Uganda, The First Woman is a strong coming of age story which explores not only Kirabo's personal experiences as she grows up, but also the effects of Ugandan creation myths and the historic role of women within the culture. My favourite aspects of the story were conversations between young Kirabo and her elderly neighbour, Nsuutu, who teaches Kirabo to see why their traditional way of life came to be. I loved the synchronicity of having recently read similar ideas from a Christian perspective in Susan Scott's In Praise of Lilith. Kirabo has to balance religious and cultural expectations against her own desires. Makumbi's nuanced portrayal of her confusion made it easy for me to empathise, especially as Kirabo observes the most ardent supporters of a repressively patriarchal lifestyle are actually other women - not men.

I am glad to have read The First Woman and there were plenty of philosophical concepts that I spent time mulling over both while reading the book and in the days since I have finished. I did think that the book was rather too long for its story because I sometimes found my concentration wandering. Also I struggled to differentiate between everybody in the large cast of characters, particularly those with similar names. That said though, I loved the historical side. Makumbi's way of depicting the era though the way in which characters dress, or comments they make about food shortages, is very effective. I liked Kirabo. She is someone I was happy to spend time with and the similarities between her life's trajectory and that of her grandmother provided The First Woman with a satisfying narrative structure.

Interessante geschiedenis van een gegoede familie in het Oeganda van de jaren zeventig. Het verhaal over dochter Kirabo en haar grootmoeders Alikisa en Nsuuta komt traag op gang, maar wordt beter naarmate het halverwege meer context en een wending krijgt, die het onmogelijk maken te bepalen wat nog goed is en wat fout. De oorlog speelt in The first woman vrijwel geen rol; in plaats daarvan besteedt Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi veel aandacht aan de verhoudingen tussen generaties, stammen en vooral tussen man en vrouw.

’Aunt Abi, he made Giibwa pregnant.’ The tears had started to flow.
‘I know, I know. The girl is a slut. But do you know the courage it took him to come here to confess?’

Tom had been a god […] Now that the god had been pulled down, they were starting to see each other. Nnambi was no longer the evil stepmother but her siblings’ mother. Mwagale was not Tom’s brat but her sister. Nsuuta and Grandmother were two mothers who had lost their son. Even Aunt Abi was beginning to see Nnambi as a broken widow rather than a mujinni. Yet Tom had been a loving father, a caring brother, a good son, and even Nnambi could not say that he had been the worst husband. He had not made himself a god. They, the women, had.