I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies.

I’m judging the L.A. Times 2020 and 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got me to read on even though it was among 296 other books I’m charged to read.

"They claimed that the very first woman rose out of the sea while the first man emerged from earth...both women and the sea were baffling...water has no shape...is inconsistent...cannot be tamed...you cannot draw borders on the ocean...land belonged with men". Gah!

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.
Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.
Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.

An excellent and heartbreaking story about resilience and growing up a girl of color in a white supremacist world. I was intrigued the entire time by the character of Kirabo, and I was rooting for her the entire time. This is a well-penned novel about the stifling limitations placed on girls due to unnecessary and unmanageable boundaries.

A beautifully written story that will fascinate readers - hard to put down until the very end. Makumibi is a beautiful storyteller.

A very compelling story. A young women who is learning about herself and her mother. It’s very important to know about your past.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I had the chance to hear Jennifer read from a very early draft of this in 2018 and I thought about it almost constantly since then. My expectations of this were so high and she absolutely delivered.

Love a strong female protagonist, and A Girl is a Body of Water delivered. I also enjoyed the 1970s Uganda setting, as I don't come across much historical fiction set in Africa.

At first, I really loved the voice of the narration of this book, and the way we are thrust right into Kirabo's life and hopes and dreams. However, as time went on and she began regular visits to Nsuuta, I was frustrated by how preachy the story got. I'd love to see some of the same messages around women's rights in a more subtle way. I kept wanting to shout, "SHOW, DON'T TELL!" I'm disappointed because I had high hopes for this book. However this is solely my personal opinion and I'm glad so many other readers have enjoyed this one.

This is my first book by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and it definitely will not be my last. This is a story of the transformation from girlhood into womanhood. It is a stunning book, and I highly recommend.

A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is the story of many women in a patriarchal, male dominated society. One main reason for my choosing this book is its setting in Uganda. Diversity and representation in literature matters, and I find fiction an introduction to worlds I know nothing about. The main theme of the book comes together, but perhaps fewer characters and greater depth to each would have created a story that resonated more emotionally.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/12/a-girl-is-body-of-water.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

“Columns of rainwater, formed by the corrugated iron roof, fell like lines of colourless strings.”

This coming of age novel is a sweeping and powerful portrait of a young girl and her family, who they are, what history has taken from them, and most importantly, how they find their way back to each other. The story transitioned from Kirabo’s life in Ugandan village of Nattetta, Eastern Africa. then the story switches to epistolary form and tells the story of Mirro, Nsuuta and Alikisa in earlier years, 1930-1940’s In Uganda and how the Europeans changed time, arranged marriages. The novel touches on wealth, manipulation of the female genitalia, and Girls who excelled in math, science and physics were looked upon as intersexual freaks because it was a masculine discipline.

I appreciated the short history of the Gods or Goddesses of Water mentioned in the story, such as Ursula Yemaya (water deity from the Yoruba religion. I also paused my reading to do a little research on Idi Amin Dada Oumee, the 3rd President of Uganda (1971-1979). Considered one of the cruelest deposts in world history. His portrait hangs on the wall of a shop within the story.

The novel was very hard to read with a lot of referencing to Uganda customs, dialog, regions and terminology. But pushing past that, it was a mystical story, a mirror into the feminist views from 1970s, 80s Uganda. I enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of the novel. The writing was very descriptive and characters were well developed. Overall the story was well defined and rendered a great read.

This coming-of-age saga follows Kirabo from village child to Kampala schoolgirl to young woman. Raised by her grandparents in 1970s Uganda, Kirabo is bright and ambitious, embodying the radical feminist concept of mwenkanonkano. Known as *The First Woman* outside of North America, the novel is rife with Ugandan culture, language, and mythology. It requires and rewards the patient reader. I was especially fascinated with the first woman myth, and how the author translated this through Kirabo's dreams and through her female kin and friendships.

<b>A Girl is a Body of Water</b> is set in 1970s Uganda under Idi Amin's regime. There are references to these historical facts and how they impact Kirabo's life. But for the most part these details are the backdrop. The center stage is Kirabo. It is her extended family and clan. It is about the women. In talking about the women, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi goes through the folklore and mythology of Uganda. Through these stories, particularly the origin stories, she drives home the concept of <i>mwenkanonkano</i>, or feminism.

Young Kirabo is seeking out her mother. She does not know who she is nor the family that she comes from. On her journey to find her mother's identity Kirabo winds up talking to the local witch Nsuuta. She is hoping that Nsuuta's special knowledge can also help her resolve the warring parts of herself. She seems to be of two minds. One that is a good girl that follows the rules. The other that is rebellious and lashes out. In moments of magical realism this part of herself flies out her body and soars. Kirabo deems this part of herself as evil but Nsuuta sees something different. She cultures this part of Kirabo, pouring into her with stories and history. In these moments she explains how patriarchy is able to exist. The hard fist of patriarchy is those that are oppressed. The other women. They enforce and keep it in place. Nsuuta talks about how the history and even the stories of a place are changed to fit this mold of oppression. Although Kirabo is enlightened by these lessons, she still has to experience life on her own terms.

At 560 pages, A Girl is a Body of Water is a wallop of a book. Although beautifully rendered, I felt that there were parts of the book that could have been pared down. I enjoyed having context but I felt unmoored at times as I got lost in the details. For instance, at the beginning we are introduced to a host of extended family members that we never see or hear from again. There is much time and detail given to setting up the school scenes where we learn about the history of the school and its written and unspoken rules. We get a sense of the different clans the girls come from and their prejudices against each other. We also see the impact of the war. But in the end we leave the school and most of those characters and their fates are never discussed again.

My favorite character in the book has to be Nsuuta. I liked that she didn't let anyone tell her who to be and how to be. She lived life on her own terms and understood the importance of uplifting other women. Even though this was supposed to be Kirabo's story I was drawn to Nsuuta and the history of her relationship with Alekisa. Their storyline was in some respects a parallel to Kirabo's but I found it more endearing. Their scenes, especially the one in the rain, were some of the most beautiful and touching moments of the whole book.

Overall, <b>A Girl is a Body of Water</b> is a rewarding journey towards self-actualization that reminds us to seek out that first woman inside ourselves.
<blockquote><i.>“We were not squeezed inside, we were huge, strong, bold, loud, proud, brave, independent. But it was too much for the world and they got rid of it. However, occasionally that state is reborn in a girl like you. But in all cases, it is suppressed. IN your case the first woman flies out of your body because it does not relate to the way this society is.”</i></blockquote>

This is one of the best coming of age novels I've ever read. It really dissects how powerful forces of oppression like colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism impact everyday relationships and insidiously divide us.. While I had very little knowledge of Ugandan history and culture, I was still enraptured by this moving story. A new classic that's as necessary as it is universal.

This was a really fascinating and engrossing book to read and I genuinely enjoyed it! It was jam packed with a lot of awesome characters, like a lot! It was really funny! Especially if you can relate to the African/family ties and mannerisms in this book. Makumbi captured East African women to a tee. It was brilliant! Highly recommend it.

Makumbi is a gifted storyteller. A Girl is a Body of Water is a feminist coming-of-age historical fiction read for all ages, races and faces. This book is full of rich Ugandan folklore, and universal themes that we can all relate to. I loved all of the characters, the sense of community as well as the powerful female roles that played an important part in this book. A truly rewarding and memorable read.

A huge thanks to Tin House books for sending me an arc of this beautiful read!

Thank you to Tin House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available!

Precocious and headstrong, Kirabo is a young Ugandan girl in search of her missing mother, determined to find what she believes to be missing in her life. Told through Kirabo's adolescent eyes, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's "A Girl is A Body of Water" brings the culture of Uganda to life in a new, vivid and memorable way. The interplay between Uganda's past with a culture steeped in tribal traditions, folklore and magic, and its push towards the modernity is seen throughout the many generations represented in the novel. What I love the most is that Makumbi drops you straight into the heart of Uganda without any pretense or explanation. Kirabo's story mirrors the story of a growing nation state, seeking guidance while forging bravely ahead into the unknown.

I enjoyed this book, although I felt like there were a couple of parts that messed up the flow of the story. I was hooked from the very first page and only lost interest when the story of Nsutta’s and Alikisa’s friendship was told. That part felt like a history lesson and I found myself getting bored. I think if there weren’t so many details about the villages and how things were done there, I would have been more engaged. I also think that part of the story should have been someplace else in the book. Where it is placed is not ideal and I lost interest in the book itself because of it.

But I loved the characters, especially Kirabo, the main character of the book. Reading her journey about her realization of what it means to be a girl/young woman in a man’s world made me think of my own journey, and I found myself giving Kirabo the same advice I was given. I loved her spirit and didn’t want to see it crushed for any reason, which is what the world tries to do to girls like her.

I would definitely recommend this novel to my readers.

I appreciate the almost lyrical magic behind the voice of this novel. Kirabo has a fiery spirit and is a great representative of the generations of women who embody her culture, history, and familial bonds. I do agree with other reviewers that it is hard to commit to the narrative structure at first, and it would be difficult for students to build into their attention, however this is a powerful story that should be well-read. Thank you Netgalley for ARC access in return for an honest review!