Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. Yet, as Kambili reveals, things are less perfect than they appear. Her Papa is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home?a home that is silent and suffocating. As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father?s authority. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together.