Kintu
By Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
This book is a multi-generational epic that follows the life of Kintu Kidda and his descendants as they have been cursed because of a defining act by Kintu. The book seamlessly weaves in the history of Uganda into its fictional fabric bringing in minute details through all characters present. It is evident that writing this book was not an easy task as is suggested by the time it took to write the book – ten years. Interestingly Makumbi does not write about either the colonial era nor Idi Amin’s rule from 1971 to 1979. Despite Makumbi offering us snapshots of Uganda’s history, she simply skips these eras and the reader finds themselves in 2004, in the post-colonial era and post-Amin regime. A genius move that negates the common notion that the histories of African countries begin and end with their contact with European colonizers or are only defined by dictatorships.
