The narrator was thirteen when her brother Nhamo died in November 1968. Nhamo attended the mission school run by their uncle Babamukuru, visiting home only once a year and often refusing chores. The village transformed with a bus terminus (magrosa), District Council Houses, tuck‑shops, a gramophone and a beer‑hall, making the walk to the terminus a social hub. On the afternoon Nhamo was expected home, the narrator helped her sisters Netsai and Rambanai, prepared dinner, and reflected on the family’s poverty, Nhamo’s demanding personality and her own growing resentment toward him and the whole family.
Nhamo entered school at seven; Babamukuru left for England, taking his children Chido and Nyasha with him, sparking family tension over the children’s care. The narrator’s schooling stopped for lack of fees, while her mother sold boiled eggs and garden vegetables at the bus terminus to keep Nhamo in school. Determined to fund her own education, the narrator cultivated a small maize plot, worked with her grandmother, and endured theft of her crop. A violent altercation with Nhamo at Sunday school leads teacher Mr Matimba to escort her to Umtali, where she sells the maize to a white woman, Doris, who gives her ten pounds for school fees. The headmaster holds the money on her behalf, provoking a dispute with her father. She returns to school, repeats Sub A, then excels in Sub B. Babamukuru returns from England, and her father and Nhamo begin planning a complicated trip to the airport, contending with unreliable bus schedules and provisioning challenges.
Babamukuru returns in a motor‑cavalcade and is celebrated with a chaotic welcome, his speech mandates that each branch of the family send at least one child to complete Form Four, leading to plans for Nhamo to attend the mission school; Nhamo later falls ill, is taken to the clinic and then the hospital where he dies, prompting intense family grief; the family then debates sending the younger cousin Tambudzai to school but the mother resists.
The narrator travels to Uncle Babamukuru’s house, confronts the stark contrast between her peasant life and the uncle’s affluent, white‑painted mansion, meets Anna (the housegirl) and her cousin Nyasha, is shown the kitchen, dining and living rooms, given a bedroom, new clothes and personal items, and experiences both awe and anxiety about her new environment and the expectations placed on her at the mission.
Tambu arrives at Babamukuru’s mansion after Nhamo’s funeral, meets the aloof but soon amused Nyasha, endures a formal dinner that reveals family tensions over books, gender roles and the new domestic expectations, receives Babamukuru’s stern speech about duty, begins school at the mission, becomes class monitor, experiences her first menstruation with Nyasha’s help, learns of Maiguru’s Master’s degree, and witnesses Nyasha’s rebellious acts (smoking, defying parents) that underscore the clash between colonial education and traditional expectations.
The narrator reflects on the presence of white missionaries, distinguishes expatriates from missionaries, and learns that many missionaries speak Shona rather than English. She meets Nyaradzo, a white missionary’s daughter, and her brothers Brian and Andrew, and hears a debate about mission versus government schools. Mr Baker, Nyaradzo’s father, secures a scholarship for the narrator’s cousin Chido to attend a prestigious boarding school. Nyasha struggles with intense exam pressure and eventually passes with top marks. The students celebrate the end of term with a Christmas party at Beit Hall. After the party Nyasha stays out late, returns home, and is violently confronted by her father Babamukuru, who beats and threatens her; the altercation is interrupted by Maiguru, Chido and others. Nyasha later recovers, and the narrator comforts her, noting Nyasha’s resilience.
The family travels to the homestead for Christmas 1969; Nyasha initially refuses to return but eventually joins the trip; Babamukuru brings an abundant supply of food and gifts, while the homestead is discovered in severe disrepair, leading to cleaning of the latrine and tension over provisions; Aunt Lucia arrives, exposing further family conflicts involving Takesure, Jeremiah, and discussions of marriage and fertility.
The Christmas gathering at the homestead becomes overcrowded, leading to severe food and water shortages, a dispute over spoiled meat, and a family council wherein Mother accuses Maiguru of witchcraft and Babamukuru proposes a church wedding for Jeremiah rather than traditional cleansing rituals.
Tambu refuses to attend her parents' wedding, is flogged by Babamukuru, Lucia challenges the punishment, Maiguru confronts Babamukuru over the waste of money and leaves the household, and Babamukuru later returns with Maiguru while the family continues to navigate the fallout.
Tambu excels in the nuns' entrance examination and receives a scholarship to the Sacred Heart convent; after a heated debate with Nyasha, Babamukuru and Maiguru, Babamukuru authorizes her to attend. Mother becomes severely ill with diarrhoea after baby Dambudzo falls sick; Lucia forces her to cleanse herself and the baby, after which mother recovers but later collapses, fearing curses. Tambu travels alone to the mission, meets former friends on the netball field, experiences Nyasha’s cold reception, and witnesses a tense family dinner over Nyasha’s curfew and food.
Tambudzai begins her first term at the Sacred Heart convent school, becoming the first black first‑former and experiencing the grand grounds, dormitory conditions and intense academic workload. Nyasha’s health rapidly collapses; she loses weight, suffers a severe mental breakdown, is forced to eat, and is eventually hospitalized and treated with Largactil by a white psychiatrist. Babamukuru brings Tambu home, and Mother warns her that “Englishness” will bring ruin.