Vendor
	Fletcher Agency Yona Levin
Original language
English

A GIRL IS A BODY OF WATER (THE FIRST WOMAN)

Jennifer Makumbi

UK Title: THE FIRST WOMAN

In her thirteenth year, Kirabo confronts a piercing question: who is my mother? Kirabo has been raised by women in the small Ugandan village of Nattetta—her grandmother, her best friend, and her many aunts—but the absence of her mother follows her like a shadow. Seeking answers from Nsuuta, the local witch, Kirabo learns about the woman who birthed her, who she discovers is alive but not ready to meet. Nsuuta also helps Kirabo understand the emergence of a mysterious second self, a headstrong and confusing force inside her—this, says Nsuuta, is a streak of the “first woman”: an independent, original state that has been all but lost to women.

Kirabo’s journey to reconcile these feelings, alongside her desire to reconnect with her mother and to honor her family’s expectations, is rich in the folklore of Uganda and an arresting exploration of what it means to be a modern girl in a world that seems determined to silence women. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s A Girl is a Body of Water is an unforgettable, sweeping testament to the true and lasting connections between history, tradition, family, friends, and the promise of a different future.

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Book Published 2021-06-15 by Tin House

Comments

“The author has the gift of…perfectly capturing the journey every child makes into adulthood… Throughout this jubilant, gorgeously penned celebration of women, Makumbi has been perceptive, humorous, and revealing about a young woman’s journey, navigating her way through a changing body, family, friendships, folklore and love in a time and place where being a woman was never going to be easy. Captivating…a gorgeously penned celebration of women…for women, about women, that should be read by all men who would like to understand women!”
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“Makumbi is such an honest, truthful writer and her truth wins out. I was so moved by A Girl Is a Body of Water and loved every single page.” —Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

“In A Girl is a Body of Water, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi takes the classic male quest for identity and turns it spectacularly on its head. Kirabo’s journey toward self-possession is a beautiful, wise, and exhilarating read.” – Lily King, Writers and Lovers

“A Girl is a Body of Water is a wonder, as clear, vivid, moving, powerful, and captivatingly unpredictable as water itself–from the ‘irate noises’ of Nnankya’s stream to the ‘theatrical’ rains of Nattetta with which Makumbi’s women wash, delight, and sate themselves. With wry wisdom, great humor, and deep complexity, Makumbi has created a feminist coming-of-age classic for the ages, sure to join the company of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet. Being surrounded by Makumbi’s women—young and old—as they each struggle in different ways to clarify and achieve mwenkanonkano, feels like love, feels like learning–and best of all it often feels, as she puts it, ‘like mischief’!” — Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift

“A Girl is a Body of Water is captivating, wise, humorous and tender: Makumbi has come back stronger than ever. This is a tale about Kirabo and her family, and her place in the world as she searches for her mother and a true sense of belonging. But most of all, this is a book about the stories that define us, and those we tell to redefine ourselves. A riveting read.” —Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King

“Jennifer Makumbi is a genius storyteller.” - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

“Superb. An intoxicating tale that combines mythic and modern elements to make the headiest of feminist brews.” -- Irenosen Okojie, Nudibranch

“In her characteristically page-turning and engaging style, Makumbi lays bare the complex power dynamics of patriarchy, capitalism and neocolonialism, not through academic jargon but via that most effective tool of education—storytelling. An achingly beautiful tale.” —Sylvia Tamale

“Makumbi has told a critical story. With beautifully wrought prose, characters you cannot help but fall in love with, and the bravery to confront the complex issues of society, she gives us a vision of a brighter, stronger, and more equal world.” - Naomi Benaron, Running the Rift

“Magnificent. The First Woman is ambitious and affecting in equal measure. It is that rare thing, a multifaceted novel guaranteed to stay with you long after you read it. Makumbi is indeed a singular talent.” - Tendai Huchu, The Hairdresser of Harare

The reader cannot escape the intimacy of this story. Makumbi’s prose is irresistible and poignant, with remarkable wit, heart and charm — poetic and nuanced, brilliant and sly, openhearted and cunning, balancing discordant truths in wise ruminations. A Girl Is a Body of Water rewards the reader with one of the most outstanding heroines and the incredible honor of journeying by her side.
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, New York Times Sunday Book Review

…[A] blazing new novel… In Makumbi’s glorious telling, [women’s] connections are as complex as they are.   Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post

In lyrical prose, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi renders Kirabo’s coming-of-age tale as a tender depiction of evolving womanhood, self-awareness in a tight-knit community and the path back to family and history.    TIME

A novel bursting with resilience and warmth... Mixing the mythic and the modern, happily ignoring formal neatness to encompass Uganda’s miscellaneousness, it’s an enthralling achievement.
Peter Kemp, Sunday Times

A soulful, fiercely original second novel from the award-winning author of Kintu, rooted in Ugandan folklore but with a firm eye on the future. Makumbi has written a sweeping, effervescent tale of longing, femininity, and courage.            The Bookseller

A mesmerizing feminist epic.         O, The Oprah Magazine

…[A] lively, engaging read, and Makumbi cleverly braids the immensely personal – Kirabo’s yearning for a mother who appears to want nothing to do with her – with far larger scale social and political shifts. … its energy derives from its considerable wit and the charm of its central character.
Alex Clark, The Guardian

Ugandan literature can boast of an international superstar in Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.
Economist

…A luminous and sprawling bildungsroman… As a whole, the novel is a vivid, rambling delight. Makumbi’s prose can be musical and rhythmic or calmly informative, as her narrative requires. In its depiction of both singular characters and a village community, this book is a jewel.
Kirkus [Starred Review]

…This bewitching coming-of-age novel introduces readers to a smart, feisty heroine, Kirabo Nnamiiro… A recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction and the Kwani Manuscript Project for her first novel, Kintu, UK-based Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a mesmerizing storyteller, slowly pulling readers in with a captivating cast of multifaceted characters and a soupcon of magical realism guaranteed to appeal to fans of Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing.
Library Journal [Starred Review]

Makumbi's previous works, including her masterful debut Kintu (2017), awed readers and garnered awards, and her new novel does not disappoint. …With each new work, Makumbi cements her position as a writer of great influence in our time and for future generations. Featuring a tightly woven narrative, carefully crafted dialogue, and multidimensional characters, all shown through an unashamedly Ugandan lens, A Girl Is a Body of Water is a powerful novel celebrating and critiquing mwenkanonkano (feminism) and the highs and lows and everything in-between of being a woman.
Booklist [Starred Review]

Kirabo, a strong, empathetic protagonist, reveals a society where women are routinely pitted against one another or silenced. This beautifully rendered saga is a riveting deconstruction of social perceptions of women’s abilities and roles.       Publishers Weekly

This is Kirabo's story and she is a wonderful heroine: headstrong, inquisitive and determined. The novel is rich with Luganda words, and steeped in ancient Ugandan folklore, making it an immersive read. I loved it.           Alice O’Keefe, The Bookseller

A powerful coming-of-age tale… Kirabo is a fantastic character - headstrong and curious - and the way Ugandan myths are woven through the story is mesmerising.                                  Good Housekeeping

Wonderful.     Psychologies [Book of the Month]

A captivating feminist coming of age tale.       Martin Chilton, The Independent

Makumbi balances heartbreak with humour… The novel is also a discourse on power (whether political, social or sexual), but executed with a beautifully light touch.          Daily Telegraph

A beautiful coming-of-age story, The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is set to the backdrop of a small Ugandan village. Surrounded by strong women, protagonist Kirabo starts to miss the mother she never knew and the book follows her journey growing up and finding her place in the world. It's a tale steeped in folklore and feminism, rebellion and longing.                   Evening Standard

A feminist coming-of-age epic... Her intimate prose is charming and compulsively readable. With equal parts wisdom and wry humour, [Makumbi] casts Kirabo as a character you care about… The First Woman is a refreshing bildungsroman that offers both a formidable heroine and an ornate snapshot of 20th-century Uganda.            Literary Review

Best title award goes to this book, hands down. We are taken on Kirabo’s journey as she attempts to fit all the pieces of herself together.      Julia Hass, Lit Hub

Whether it be teaching something new or overwriting something old—A Girl is a Body of Water makes clear the importance of being able to speak for yourself.        Aaron Coats, Chicago Review of Books

At turns rapturous and devastating. … Makumbi's writing uplifts and inspires, evoking the grand tradition of folklore and stories passed down, one woman to the next.       Refinery29

An intoxicating coming-of-age tale set amidst the brutality of Idi Amin's Uganda, The First Woman is a hymn to survival, rebellion and the enduring power of the female spirit.
Waterstones (October's Best Books)

Fantastic... Packed with passion and drama — and in possession of sharp political elbows — The First Woman finally becomes a moving and resonant celebration of sisterhood.                              Daily Mail

A standout coming-of-age novel about parents, friendship and storytelling.                   Mail on Sunday

This vivid novel marries folklore with modern feminism... [A] wonderful coming-of-age story.
Sunday Express

Ambitious...unapologetically African.     The Millions

Makumbi’s rich language and detailed descriptions are a must-read.   HelloGiggles

Kirabo's journey of self-discovery is at once inspiring and epic.        PopSugar

The genius of this novel is in its subtlety: home truths about the treatment of women throughout history are hidden like gems within the utterly engaging tale of a single girl... So, I'm calling it now: The First Woman will soon be considered a coming-of-age classic. And rightly so.
Stylist

Makumbi’s writing is lyrical and vivid as she not only captures Kirabo, but the world and community that Kirabo is navigating. ALMA

Perhaps the most important aspect of this novel is its relevance, from the ideas of mwenkanonkano (feminism) to the importance of having a voice and representation… Makumbi taps the shoulders of readers lest they forget the power of being able to tell your own story. The novel is an indictment of patriarchy and colonialism, but also a celebration of love and friendship and the many ways women show up for other women.      Caroline Okello, The East African