Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

The novel follows the life of Kirabo, a young Ugandan girl being raised by her grandparents in a rural village. Although her father visits regularly from his job in the city, no one will talk about her mother. Kirabo seeks answers from the village witch and begins a process of self-discovery, even as she learns more about the complicated relationships in her family.

The book is divided into five sections, each of which is set in a different time of Kirabo's life—childhood, living with her father, boarding school, and young adulthood—with the except of the fourth part which relates the relationship between her grandmother and the village witch. Mythology and feminism take on larger roles, with politics and history remaining in the background.

I enjoyed Kirabo's story, although the section where the village witch instructs Kirabo in feminism felt heavy-handed. Nothing is black and white, and I liked the tension between ideals and reality. Sometimes choices and compromises must be made, for good or ill, and we must live with the consequences.… (mere)