The novel is set in the Igbo villages of Omokachi, Omigwe, Aliji and Chiolu.
Madume (in his early 30s) is annoyed that his only wife bore him 4 daughters without a son, despite the bride price he would collect on them. The thought of his brother's sons inheriting his houses and lands contributes to his laziness. In addition, he is greedy and never satisfied with his share in anything good. Hence, he is always quarreling over land, trees, etc with his neighbours (including Emenike). Madume also hates Emenike for being more popular than him and for Ihuoma's choosing Emenike over him.
Emenike and Madume quarrel over a piece of land and many of their fellow villagers speak in favour of Emenike. Madume waylays Emenike in the forest and wins the fight after dashing his side against the jagged stump of a tree. Anyika, the Omokachi village medicine man, is called to treat him. Nwokekoro is the priest of Amadioha (the god of thunder and of the skies). Ojukwu is the god of smallpox.
Ihuoma has had 3 children by age 22 after 6 years of marriage to Emenike. She is beautiful, sympathetic and reserved. She is able to bear a neighbour's stinging remarks without a repartee and earns the reputation of a peacemaker among fighting women. She is from Omigwe, a neighbouring village. Emenike recovers from the fight but dies shortly afterwards of "lock-chest". Many people link his death with his fight with Madume which had considerably weakened his resistance to any disease. Ihuoma wears the customary sackcloth for one year before the second burial ends her mourning period.
With Emenike out of the way and his brother Nnadi being "too reserved to make trouble", Madume plans to extend his boundary with Emenike indefinitely and take over Ihuoma. One day, he tries to help Ihuoma put down a pot of water from her head against her wishes. He hurts his right toe against a half-buried old hoe in her compound. Anyika holds some spirits from the sea and Emenike's father's spirit responsible and warns Madume to keep off Ihuoma and her compound. While Madume is harvesting plantains from the disputed land one day, a cobra spits into his eyes and he goes blind. He later commits suicide and is thrown into Minita, the evil forest.
Ekwueme is 2 years older than Ihuoma and interested in marrying her. Ihuoma rejects his proposal because of his engagement to Ahurole (her village girl) since childhood. Ihuoma's father is even "distantly related to Wagbara", Ahurole's father (page 193). Ahurole is 5 years younger than Ekwueme. Though otherwise intelligent and dutiful, Ahurole is prone to weeping over trivial matters. This weakness of hers stresses her marriage with Ekwueme and makes him long for Ihuoma and seek her company frequently (though on a platonic basis). Ahurole gets jealous and feeds him with a love potion which runs him mad. She runs away out of shame.
Ekwueme insists on Ihuoma's presence beside him before bathing and taking his medicines. When he gets well, his parents permit him to marry Ihuoma. Anyika says (after consulting the oracle), "Ihuoma is the favourite wife of the Sea-King in the spirit world before being incarnated as a human being. Her spirit husband eliminated both Emenike and Madume. The sea-king can be appeased to let her be someone's concubine (but never a wife) until she lives out her normal earthly span and returns to him".
Anyika says there is no way Ekwueme can safely marry Ihuoma but Agwoturumbe , a "dibia"(or medicine man) from Aliji, thinks he can bind the sea-king. The requisites for the sacrifice include a brightly-coloured male lizard. The sacrifice is to be done in the middle of a river at midnight.
After overcoming his fears about the midnight sacrifice , Ekwueme teaches Nwonna (Ihuoma's son) and his friends to shoot arrows along the wall so that the wall will direct their arrows to the lizards. After one of his friends has caught a lizard, Nwonna tries to kill another one by himself and for his own use. That is when Ekwueme steps out of his room and is hit by an arrow in his belly. He dies before even going for the midnight sacrifice.
Ihuoma can only be a concubine.
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