The Price family, in 1959, journeys to the Belgian Congo from their home in Bethlehem, Georgia, as Christian missionaries. The Reverend Nathan Price and his family, loosely affiliated with Southern Baptist sponsors, arrive at the village of Kilanga with no understanding of what they will face. They know nothing of their living conditions or the types of challenges they will encounter as Nathan preaches his spiritual message.
Orleanna, Nathan’s wife, and their daughters Rachel (fifteen years old), Leah and Adah (twelve-year-old twins), and Ruth May (six years old), tend to their authoritarian father, who sees himself as the guide, guardian, and absolute ruler of his family of females. Their sole duty is to make Nathan’s life in Kilanga tolerable
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Confusion about what had happened to her makes it impossible for anyone to act quickly enough to save her life. She dies, and Orleanna descends into a nightmare of grief and longing. She faces the loss of her daughter and then finally admits Nathan’s overbearing cruelty against the family and his manipulation. She no longer feels obligated to her husband.
The Congo is thrust into chaos during its movement for independence from Belgium, marking the end of colonial domination for an entire people and also the collapse of Nathan’s patriarchal dominance. Orleanna abandons him, placing all her trust in her abilities to survive and save her remaining children. In the flight to freedom, Rachel flies off with Eeben Axelroot, a bush pilot, to begin her life with him in Africa; they soon marry. Orleanna manages to leave the Congo with Adah, and Leah marries Anatole and supports his resistance to the newly corrupt regime.
Nathan, years after his family had left him and had established lives of their own, wanders like a crazy man, rambling and alienating everyone he encounters. He dies alone, burning to death in a freakish accident while villagers stand by, reluctant to intervene. His death is a just finale to his brutish behavior toward his wife and daughters and toward the Congolese he tried to intimidate into accepting