The First Woman: Winner of the Jhalak Prize, 2021

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I honestly won't be surprised if this becomes a movie or a mini-series. It's the type of book that gets people talking because there aren't a lot of books out there like it, and it's fun to read because it has a fascinating story and great characters. The beginning is a little slow, but once Kirabo becomes a teenager, it gets so, so good. I'm definitely going to be recommending this one to all my friends! The opening of the book has a distinctly magical realism feel – Kirabo, a born storyteller, seems prone to splitting in half, with a second, more outrageous side to her which manifests itself in out-of-body flights. Linking this to her missing knowledge of her mother she resolves to secretly visit the blind village witch – Nsuuta – with who her grandmother has a feud to Tom’s apparent treatment of Nsuuta as a second mother. Feministic themes are the focus of this book. Other than that, the author also talks about colorism, racism, marriage, friendships, relationships, and family dynamics. The novel is more than a coming-of-age story of Kirabo. It also gives us a glimpse into Kirabo’s grandmother and Nsuuta’s life and how their grandfather’s relationship with the two of them changed the friendship between the two women. It was interesting to see how society viewed and cheered the women based on what people inferred about their relationship. With the wrong idea in mind, the community shunned Nsuuta, dubbing her to be a witch capable of drawing men to her. The responsibility of men concerning their actions in these communities is laughable, and we see how they turn the blame onto women and how women also turn against one another in moments of strife. The village teens meet daily at the well and the boys and girls flirt with each other. The girls carry water home in jugs on their heads. Storytelling is an essential element of this book. Early on, Kirabo begs Nsuuta to tell the story of why women had the position they occupied in society.

In 1973, four years after Neil Armstrong’s space boot hit moon dust in the most celebrated step ever taken by a man, a Nasa report observed that: “There have been three females sent into space by Nasa. Two are Arabella and Anita – both spiders. The other is Miss Baker – a monkey.” The report’s co-author Ruth Bates Harris, who the space agency had originally hired to run its equal opportunities office, was described as a “disruptive force” and fired a month later. we are our circumstances. And until we have experienced all the circumstances the world can throw at us, seen all the versions we can be, we cannot claim to know ourselves. How, then, do we start to know someone else?” Upon arriving in Kampala, Tom told his wife, "That is Kirabo. This is her home". Turbulent, confusing times for Kirabo...soon off to an elite private school. If Kirabo were home, the entire village would have given her a send-off. "Let your ancestors' blessings walk with you...". Kirabo just put her suitcase in the boot of Tom's car.Soon the action moves to Kampala where Kirabo's father, Tom, lives. They've had a fairly casual relationship all through Kirabo's childhood, knowing each other mainly through Tom's rushed visits to the village. But the move is to facilitate Kirabo's graduation to secondary school, so she reluctantly travels to Kampala with him. Here, Kirabo's world expands and she gets to know her city relatives a lot better. She also thinks she might be closer to solving the mystery of her mother's identity. Mwenkanonkano is the Luganda word for feminism. The world that Kirabo is living in is slowly changing. She is going to an excellent school and has plans to be a veterinarian. She expects to be treated well by a future husband. Later in the story, her grandfather gives her land and a house of her own, which is unheard of at the time. At times, the author seemed a bit heavy handed in pushing the feminist outlook.

The narrative begins when Kirabo is a girl living with her grandmother, who develops a curiosity to know who her mother is, she is awakening to the deficit in her life and notices that those closest to her are unwilling to talk about her parents. So she seeks out Nsuutu, who some refer to as the witch, intuitively knowing she may have knowledge, visiting her in secret. Whether or not you’ve seen it, I think most people do know of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ performance as Selina Meyer on HBO’s satirical Veep at least to some extent—she has won a disgusting amount of Emmys. Either way, the character of Selina Meyer can be summed up as a sociopathic alien trying her darndest to imitate a human-being as she claws her way to political power. That, and she becomes America’s first female president. Selina is the kind of narcissist that is the most while doing the least—a true American icon. With such training, it is not surprising that many of the 400 buildings attributed to Wilbraham show a strong familiarity with both Italian and Dutch (but not French) architecture, which she synthesised into a sophisticated British style. Some of her better known buildings include Belton, Uppark, Winslow, Temple Bar, Windsor Guildhall, the original Burlington House, and St Mary’s Church, Ingestre. She designed Codrington Library, Oxford before Hawksmoor became involved.Fiktívna autobiografia prezidentky Seliny Meyer zo seriálu Veep. Kto nevidel seriál, nebude čítať; aj pre fanúšikov najlepšie čítať po častiach, lebo celé je to vlastne stále ten istý vtip, ale oplatí sa kvôli kúskom ako tieto: I found that the role of a the First lady at times could serve as a microcosm of the issues facing women in America: working mom, stay at home mom, sitting at the table, staying behind the scenes, issues in marriages, issues with children; all of those things have and do come up. Many of the women profiled never wanted that role. Some dreamed of nothing better. All tried to put their unique stamp on it and at times found themselves damned if they did and damned if they didn't. And in this day and age, It was interesting to learn that how much of the First Lady's role is still truly like a traditional housewife who plans state dinners, menus, flowers, parties. From there though I felt the novel too unraveled – or perhaps my ability to access it was inadequate. A lengthy mourning and then will scene after a death left me struggling to follow the dynamics of the various family members and the interactions of the different clans and tribes, as well as some of the customs and language used. Further the resolution of the identity of Kirabo’s mother I found one generational link to many. You do not realise, but ancients had such an irrational fear of the nature of women that they would try anything to keep them under control. They supported this story by pointing to the sea. Apparently both women and the sea were baffling, changeful: today they are this, tomorrow they are that.”

We were not squeezed inside, we were huge, strong, bold, loud, proud, brave, independent. But it was too much for the world and they got rid of it. However, occasionally that state is reborn in a girl like you. But in all cases, it is suppressed. IN your case the first woman flies out of your body because it does not relate to the way this society is.” our Original State ….. was wonderful for us. We were not squeezed inside, we were huge, strong, bold, loud, proud, brave, independent. But it was too much for the world and they got rid of it. However occasionally the state is reborn in a girl like you. But in all cases it is suppressed It doesn’t help that Kirabo herself is rather obnoxious and self-centered, which is not uncommon for her age, but for me unpleasantness works better on more dynamic or complex characters. Worse, growing up never involves working on her flaws. I think the reader is intended to have far more sympathy for her stepmother than Kirabo ever does (immediately forgetting Nsuuta’s advice to be forgiving of other women). But Kirabo herself never reaches the point of considering why other people might have made the decisions they did rather than simply lashing out and seeking revenge for her own pain. I was disappointed when even at the end of the book she’s out for vengeance for her birth mother’s abandonment rather than attempting to understand what it would be like to give birth at 13(!) in a society where young single motherhood means an end to dreams for both schooling and marriage, and appreciating that she was raised by many loving relatives.In 2015 I started a project of reading biographies and memoirs about first ladies. I have managed to read most of the biographies except a few hard to find ones. I also learned that the rule book says first ladies is not to be capitalized. This book about the first ladies covers the first ladies from Kennedy to Obama and was published in 2017. Would highly recommend this for any Veep fans. It's like another couple episodes. If you're not a Veep fan, I would highly recommend you become one.