A Girl is A Body of Water

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.

This discussion guide and recommended reading is shared and sponsored in partnership with Tin House.

Book club questions for A Girl is A Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

What do the origin stories in A Girl Is a Body of Water tell us about the powers of storytelling or the power given to those who create foundational myths and folklore? Why do you think Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi reclaims mythology for women in the narrative?

Women inform much of the action in the novel; how do they work together (or against each other) throughout the novel?

Uganda itself emerges as a character in the book. How did the setting and its history inform your reading of the novel? Did you consult a map at any point? Were you curious to read more about Uganda’s history?

What role do family secrets and gossip play in this novel? Are there ways in which village gossip unearths truth, or is it always damaging?

Discuss the ways in which Makumbi reveals the differences in social class among her characters. What are the different cultural assumptions Kirabo encounters—the girls she meets at boarding school, the family she lives with in the city with her father, and those of the citizens in the small village of Natteta?

How do you think this novel would be different if it was written from Giibwa's perspective? Are there things she understands that Kirabo doesn't, and vice-versa?

Makumbi dedicates A Girl Is a Body of Water to her grandmothers, and Kirabo has many maternal figures in the novel. How is motherhood and maternal care portrayed in this novel?

What was it like to be immersed in Makumbi's inventive writing style and the way she weaves different languages throughout the prose? What sets A Girl Is a Body of Water apart from other multi-generational family sagas you have read?

Describe the various portrayals of marriage in the novel. What are some similarities or differences you see across generations?

Kirabo comes of age over the course of the novel, but she's not the only one who experiences great change. What characters change the most in your opinion?

A Girl is A Body of Water Book Club Questions PDF

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