Fifteen-year-old Kambili lives with her abusive and religious father, abused mother, and older brother in Nigeria. She survives by working out exactly what it is her father wants but still he beats her and pours boiling water on her feet. She and her brother see a different kind of family life - loving and fun - when they go to stay with their aunt and cousins. This is all set to the backdrop of the Nigerian coup which affects her father's life most of all.
There were lots of things I enjoyed: how complicated her father is, the stirrings of love that Kambili feels for a priest, and the aunt and cousins, but still I was left rather unmoved. The brother and mother both seemed unknowable, and even Kambili is so introverted that she lack enough energy and agency to care too much about.