THE PLOT: ‘Kintu’ by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a historical novel about a Ugandan family cursed through the generations. In 1750, Kintu Kidda is a respected community leader in part of the Buganda kingdom, but when he accidentally kills a young Tutsi boy, Kintu and his descendants are cursed by the boy’s father. Split into six parts, the rest of the novel weaves together the stories of Kintu’s distant offspring. From Suubi, the abandoned child forced to be a house girl, to Kanani, a zealous Christian who puts the church above his own children, each of the descendants must eventually come together to break the curse. 

RATING:  This book is a masterpiece. Its ability to seamlessly weave together different characters and time periods without the reader getting lost is very impressive. Although the writing is literary and there are a lot of names and places, it doesn’t feel too heavy and remains accessible. There are several principal characters who each lead a part of the narrative, all of whom are distinct and represent a different part of Ugandan culture. This is definitely a book I’d recommend to everyone and anyone as an important cornerstone of African literature.

GOOD BITS: This book is mostly good bits so it’s hard to pinpoint everything I liked. However, the individuality of the characters really stood out and no-one felt like a stereotype. In particular, I noticed how the novel didn’t focus on the colonisation of Uganda or white characters. Although colonisation is a huge theme in the background, each character felt like the centre of their own story rather than reacting to white antagonists. For example, I think it’s important that Suubi was employed by a middle-class Black family and that we never ‘see’ the white missionaries in Miisi and Kanani’s stories.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: I was completely engaged with all of the characters until I got to Miisi (book five). Perhaps it’s because I’m not a huge fan of dream sequences, but I struggled to connect and it felt like I was wading through the section. It’s such a shame but by the end I felt like I was reading to finish the book, not reading to enjoy it, which is why I had to remove half a star. I also think I spent too much time studying the family tree, which led to a couple of spoilers (90% my fault, 10% the publishers’).

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Homegoing’ by Yaa Gyasi, ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe and ‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee. If you like a multi-generational saga with an epic scope and literary yet accessible writing, buy a copy now.

This book is available to purchase with a discount on my bookshop.org profile: here.