Title:
Manchester Happened
Author:
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Parts
/ pages: Two / 305 – 12 stories in all
Publisher
/ Date: One World / 2019
Book
Type: Hard cover
Yearn,
stern, earn: Intro
I
yearned to read this book for two main reasons. One, it was my second
Jennifer Makumbi book, I’d loved the first thoroughly, Kintu. Two,
it was a current book, as in published just this year and a hard
copy.
The
stern feeling stemmed from the noun “Manchester,” I don’t
really like the place because of the team - Manchester United. I’m
an Arsenal fan and football rivalry has a way of helping you make
enemies of clubs, players and in my case places. I know it’s
nonsense but it’s my reality.
Earn
is what I got – by way of exceeded expectations, and the badge of
honour of having to savour Mrs. Makumbi’s witty storytelling and
crafty writing. Of course with the heavy dose of Ugandan culture and
immigrant hustles.
A
dozen stories spanning between Uganda and Britain
The
book starts off with a prologue that ushers us into Part 1
[Departing] which I choose to label as ‘take off,’ embedded
therein are six distinct stories of how Ugandans left the
country to seek greener pastures in the land of the Queen, a former colonial master.
The
stories span how some strived to leave behind the motherland for
their new ‘home,’ it showcases the yearning of others to return
home at all costs. The downsides of living away from home and the
reasons people are able to adjust and adapt of fail to in both
instances.
The
author shines light on stories of immigrant’s hopes, of their
struggles, of their sacrifices, of their missteps (at least per
African / Ugandan norms) and of course their close shaves and big
successes.
Part
2 [Returning] which I choose to call ‘touch down,’ is of Ugandans
and sometimes their British ‘collaborators,’ voluntarily making
the journey back or being forced to – be it for good or on a
particular mission.
Five
stories in all, of how a Ugandan immigrant opted to return to the
country of their birth. From those jolted back for marriage or
funeral to those that sort of made a stopover only to jaunt off.
From
trying to settle in and having the system attempt to reconfigure
characters and the struggle to fend off the Ugandan Ugandaness but to
hold on to a newly found mix of the land they had left and the one
they’d returned to.
My
best story: "Something Inside So Strong"
“Something
Inside So Strong,” the fourth story in Part 1 was my best
episode. Vintage Makumbi weaves a story of one woman’s present,
coughs up her past midway and thrusts us right back to the present.
That
is the story of Mpony’obugumba Nnampiima Ssekubuge, stress not; she
is simply Poonah. Her poor and unfortunate past plays into a present
that gives her reason to call Britain the ultimate leveller.
What
makes the story relatable by and large is of the airport setting
where as an Airport Security Officer, ASO, she encounters different
characters in the line of work. A narration of reality (that’s for
me that has been through at least five airports) in my lifetime.
The
part about the Pakistani family at the search point, about the white
woman with a vibrator, about the cultural no – no of its exposure and the labyrinth of having to deal with workmates - who are just that, workmates whose actions seek to work you out.
Cue
in how she arrived in Manchester in the first place and wind it up
with how the ‘Something Inside So Strong,’ track blurted out in
the face and to the hearing of of all people Nnamuli.
The painful read of Makumbi’s animal narration: Woof!
"Memoirs of a Namaaso," wore me out as I signed out of Part 1, it is the "standout" edition of the totally human narrations. Its main characters belonged to the canine family, dogs.
And yet, vintage Makumbi weaves a narrative that seamlessly projects the animals even though humans pop in and out of the sequence. Again, there is a story of turf wars, of manliness and of migration and immigration.
Long
story short: Outro
Something
inside so strong had a tough time making it to the top of my list and
giving it a strong chase was "My Brother, Bwemage." Jeeeeez, the cultural and contemporary Uganda narratives mixed with the marital complexities got me hooked on the story.
Having
earlier read Kintu which I choose to call a cross-generational
marathon of a story, I call Manchester Happened a dozen-athlon. And
why not, when you are served twelve distinct pieces at a "sitting."
To
cut a long story short, "Manchester Happened" did happen for me an
Arsenal fan. It sure should do same for lovers of African literature.
A
UK Guardian review in front of the book read: 'Makumbi does for
Ugandan literature what Chinua Achebe did for Nigerian writing,' and
I so agree as a student and lover of Achebe.
Now,
I'm itching to land my third Makumbi book. Let's keep reading pals.
13 Muharram, 1441 = 12 September, 2019
