The book begins with the introduction of Niakoro, the frail, elderly mother of the protagonist, Bakayoko, the union leader at the timeof the 1947 railway strike in French colonial Senegal. While Bakayoko does not appear until later in the novel, he is alluded to consistently, and the significance of the other characters correlates directly to the intimacy of their relationship with him.

Niakoro is possessed of a countenance that “had the serenity which comes to those […] at the end of a hard and virtuous life” (1). She is an ethereal presence, observing the chatter and activities of the younger wives residing in the compound; while she absorbs everything, she comments infrequently.

Niakoro is concerned about talk of a railway strike by the husbands of the young women, and she recalls that the last strike led to the deaths of her husband and one of her sons, as well as the physical relocation of another son, Ibrahim Bakayoko, due to his union activities. Niakoro ruminates upon her present state, upset that none of the younger people have called upon her wisdom regarding the advisability of a strike. She attempts to remain occupied, and Assitan, Bakayoko’s wife, heats an iron in the fire, so that Niakoro can decorate designs on gourds.