The novel follows four brothers in a quiet neighbourhood of a Nigerian town, who are given a violent prophecy which shakes their family to the core.

On one of their fishing trips, they encounter a local madman, Abulu, who follows them shouting the name of Ikenna, the oldest brother.

The other children flee, but the four brothers stop to listen, as Abulu shouts a series of prophecies: that Ikenna will become blind, mute, crippled.

[7] The novel has garnered comparisons to Things Fall Apart in part due to the central role prophecy has in each novel.

[8][10] Multiple critics referred to the novel as a Bildungsroman given that it is told from the perspective of one brother, and charts his youth.