Fifteen years after the tragic death of her husband, Malaika receives his private journals and an odd invitation to write his biography. Financially strapped, Malaika accepts the invitation only to find that her husband's death is not nearly as straight forward or as simple as it once seemed. In the final entry in his diary, Malaika reads something that will change the course of her life. Her husband, Paul Mondeson, did not die of natural causes. Driven by guilt and a relentless quest for the truth, Malaika's research takes her back to Tanzania in the early 1980's when a young, idealistic American Peace Corps Volunteer comes out to Tanzania to teach physics at a "bush school." As his project officer, Malaika attempts to teach Paul the "rules of engagement" for working in a desperately poor African country. Soon the couple falls in love against a brutal background of corruption, racism, witchcraft, betrayal and murder. Malaika's journey into the past is also one of self-discovery as she pursues the absolution that always seems just beyond her reach.