In this epic tale of fate, fortune and legacy, Jennifer Makumbi vibrantly brings to life this colourful family as she re-imagines the history of Uganda through the cursed bloodline of the Kintu clan. The year is 1750. Kintu Kidda sets out for the capital to pledge allegiance to the new leader of the Buganda kingdom. Along the way he unleashes a curse that will plague his family for generations.
Blending oral tradition, myth, folktale and history, Makumbi weaves together the stories of Kintu’s descendants as they seek to break free from the burden of their past to produce a majestic tale of clan and country – a modern classic.
“With a novel that is inventive in scope, masterful in execution, she does for Ugandan literature what Chinua Achebe did for Nigerian writing.” – The Guardian
“Postcolonial literature is often thought of as a conversation between a native culture and a Western power that sought to dominate it. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s marvellous Ugandan epic, Kintu, explodes such chauvinism.” – Guernica
“Makumbi did her best to finally write a novel for Ugandans, but her subject matter appeals to every world citizen.” – de Volkskrant