Summary

The novel’s prologue establishes its narrative framing device. A guardian spirit—known as a chi—has visited the spirit world in order to give a report on Chinonso Solomon Olisa. Chinonso is the man on Earth whom the chi inhabits and tries to help. Chinonso is still alive, but the chi is in the spirit world to give an interim report on recent events of Chinonso’s life. The chi is therefore the novel’s narrator. Chapter 1 then begins the main narrative in Nigeria, circa the year 2007. Chinonso is a poultry farmer living in the Nigerian city of Umuahia. The chi states that the nature surrounding the city is rich with spirits and traditional Nigerian history. At a market in the city, Chinonso buys a few poultry birds, including a gosling that reminds him of a pet gosling he loved as a boy...