The relationship between Africa and the West is the subject of this speculative tale by Buchi Emecheta. A group of Europeans fleeing a nuclear holocaust, crash-land in the west African kingdom of Shavi, presenting King Patayon and his people with a set of problems that not even Ogene, the all-powerful goddess of the lakes is able to resolve.  With the voice of an accomplished story teller, Nigerian born Buchi Emecheta has created a moving story set partly in Britain and partly in an imaginary country on the fringes of the Sahara.