Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria.

In America, Ifemelu suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Meanwhile, Obinze plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London.

Fifteen years later, when they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion – for each other and for their homeland – they face the hardest decision of their lives.