Something of Value focuses on Peter, the son of a land-owning white settler, and Kimani, the son of a Kikuyu chief. When it begins, they are fifteen-year-old foster-brothers and best friends. Peter had been cared for as an infant by Kimani's mother after his own mother's death. Now they play war games together. However, because he is white, Peter expects the deference which Kimani is loathe to give. When Peter's future brother-in-law Jeff slaps Kimani for insolence, Kimani believes his family may be cursed. When his father and two of his father's wives are jailed for infanticide, he is certain of this and attempts to kill Jeff in order to remove the curse.

He then flees, and after some experience with petty crime, becomes a Mau Mau leader who eventually kills Jeff and two of his children. He severely wounds Jeff's wife, leaving her for dead. Kimani is...