Cameroon, late 1950s. After a long period of colonial rule, the spirit of resistance begins to stir, but the peaceful independence movement UPC is violently suppressed by the colonial administration and forced underground. The head of the movement is the charismatic Ruben Um Nyobe, the only historical figure in the author's narrative. Around him, she weaves a web of relationships between men and women, connected by family, love, passion, and their political goals. Through numerous flashbacks, Hemley Boum expands the story into a family saga about the lives of five generations. The author tells the struggle of her protagonists with excitement and precision, and like in a Greek tragedy, she presents them with decisions that have irreversible consequences. The deeply explored female characters particularly stand out in memory.