In this novel of singular thoughtfulness I.N.C. Aniebo chronicles the progress of two Igbo marriages, one traditional and the other Christian. We are taken back to Port Harcourt in 1939 where Nelson is a fitter in an engine-shed. His marriage to Ejika was originally close and warm but, following the birth of their son Okechukwu, it turns sour as he takes up with a local barkeeper. On the other hand the marriage of Janet and Christian, the shopkeeper, was hardly ever a marriage at all. The author’s vivid portrayal of their parallel year’s journey through life shows an almost inevitable progress from misfortune to disaster and beyond. First Christian is beaten up by thugs hired by a rich man with whose wife he has started having an affair, and then there is the almost casual accident of Janet’s rape by soldiers as she travels back on a train after visiting her parents in Zaria where she consulted a dibia about her inability to conceive again. And finally, there is her welcome legacy from that rape.