At the beginning of the novel, Adah is a child of an Ibo from Ibuza, Nigeria, living in Lagos. She dreams as a young girl of moving to the United Kingdom. After her father dies, Adah is sent to live with her uncle’s family.

She is able to stay in school in Nigeria and attains employment working for the American consulate as a library clerk. The compensation from this job is enough to make her a desirable bride to Francis (her now husband) and in-laws.

Francis travels to the United Kingdom for several years to pursue the study of law. Adah convinces her husband’s family that she and the children also belong to the UK. Francis believes they are second-class citizens in the United Kingdom as they are not citizens of the country. Adah finds employment working for another library and pays for their expenses, while also providing primary care for their children.

Later, we see that Francis becomes increasingly abusive and dismissive of Adah as she pursues becoming a writer.