The First Woman

I found this book fascinating and I couldn't put it down!

The story is set in Uganda and follows a young girl named Kirabo as she embarks on her journey into womanhood. Kirabo is growing up in a time where women are changing their role in society and she is keen to follow her own path. Kirabo has a strong family network and while she is respectful to her family, their traditions and beliefs, she is also an independent young woman who wants to create her own path. Rich in family, relationships, friendships and aspirations this book has so many layers.

Before reading this book I had no knowledge of Ugandan Mythology but I found the book eye opening and an interesting read.

I felt so drawn to Kirabo's character and this made for an enjoyable read.

I did find it a little confusing with the many different characters. Due to this being an ARC read I didn't come across the character list on my kindle until the end.

This was a fantastic book - set in Uganda in the 1970s, an era and place of which I know very little, we see the protagonist, Kirabo, grow up amongst her extended family. She is being brought up by her grandparents, landowners in the town, as her mother left when she was born. This fascinating novel follows her growing up, the relationships with her friends and family, and her navigation of a patriarchal society.

With the backdrop of Idi Amin's rule, and powerful men disappearing around her, we follow her as she moves into her father's house in the city, and an upmarket boarding school. The relationships were incredibly well described, and the constraints around women were palpable.

There is a thread running through the book about the power of women, and links to Ugandan mythology, but I found it to be a really grounded and earthy novel, with so much everyday detail. There are complicated family networks that I did need to use the provided cast of characters to follow, but it was so satisfying when the story moved back in time and we found out the effects of their past actions on Kirabo's life.

This stunning book is a classic of coming of age feminism. I will be reading the author's first novel and seeking out more Ugandan fiction.

The First Woman is a wonderfully eye-opening read, that conveys a deeply personal story of one extraordinary woman's upbringing. Her battle to find herself is courageous, and inspiring.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I was very excited to read this having read all of Makumbi’s books. I had high expectations going into this.

The first woman is a coming of age story of a young lady, Karibo , who grew up knowing she was different from most of the girls in her village who only wanted to be wives and mothers.

This book explores her life as a young girl who had no relationship with her mother but desperately craved it. She lived in a patriarchal society where women were reduced to nothing, where education was a disadvantage to women as it could make them unattractive to men and the goal was to get married. I did appreciate that despite being raised in such a patriarchal society, she had people that introduced her to feminism.

I particularly loved her relationship with her aunt Abi. I also really enjoyed her conversation with Sio on feminism but it became obvious that even men that champion feminism or ally’s as they call them will fall your hand.

This book highlights the different thought process of African women and how they navigate sexism. It explores feminism in a nuanced way.

It started off a bit slow paced and it almost lost my attention but I soon realized that it was a book that needed my undivided attention and patience to savor and soak up its awesomeness. I’ve noticed that Jennifer Makumbi likes books with a lot of characters and is unapologetically Ugandan as the book was filled with Ugandan words and phrases. It was a bit hard to understand at first but as I progressed, it got easier to understand the meaning of these words based on the context in which they were used.

The First Woman explores heavy themes like feminism, sexism, womanhood, marriage, motherhood, family, loss, friendships & Ugandan culture and history.

TFW was filled with beautiful prose and amazing dialogues ! Jennifer Makumbi wrote one hell of a book. There is a lot to unpack and discuss and I reckon this will be a fantastic book club read.


This was a wholesome read because it was written by an African woman and she told stories of African women navigating patriarchy and sexism which is so important in the world we live in.