Fifteen-year-old Kambili lives in fear of her father, a charismatic yet violent Catholic patriarch, who, although generous and well-respected in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home. Escape and the discovery of a new, liberated way of life come when Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, forcing Kambili and her brother to live at their aunt's home. The visit will lift the silence from her world and, in time, unlock a terrible, bruising secret at he heart of her family life.