This novel follows Obi Okonkwo, a young Nigerian man who returns home from studying in England and takes a position in the civil service in Lagos in the years before independence. He is educated, idealistic and proud of his modern outlook, but he is also tied to his family and village, who expect much of him and helped pay for his schooling.
As money troubles, personal choices and the habits of official life press upon him, Obi finds his principles tested. The book is a quiet, ironic study of a changing society and of the strain between old loyalties and new ambitions.