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Plot introduction

Orleanna Price narrates the introductory chapter in five of the novel's seven sections. The narrative then alternates among the four daughters, with a focus on Leah as she explores the political turmoil that overtook The Congo in the 1950s and 1960s. The increasing maturity of all four girls is apparent as each adapts differently to African village life and to the misogyny of their father, who wears out his family's welcome in Kilanga but refuses to depart. It is only after a series of misfortunes, however – culminating in the death of one of the daughters – that the women finally find the will to leave Nathan to his folly. The four survivors take very different paths into their futures, which are described up to the 1990s. The novel ends at the time of the death of Mobutu Sese Seko.