In the early 1760s in Ghana, Effia Otcher is born in Fanteland on a night when fire rages outside her father’s compound. The fire spreads all the way to an Asante village in a matter of days. She is left by her father, Cobbe Otcher, with his first wife, Baaba, so he can survey the damage to his yams. Seven yams are lost, and Cobbe knows the loss will haunt his family for generations. Baaba and Cobbe agree never to speak of what happened that day, but the villagers are certain that “the baby was born of the fire” and is cursed (3). Cobbe commands Baaba to love the baby.

Baaba gives birth to Fiifi when Effia is three years old. Effia accidentally drops him one day while playing, and while he is unhurt, Baaba beats Effia with a cooking spoon that burns her flesh. Cobbe then fights with Baaba into the night. A cycle of violence begins, with Baaba beating Effia, and Cobbe beating Baaba, where “for each scar on Effia’s body, there was a companion scar on Baaba’s” (5). As Effia matures she gets more beautiful and attracts multiple suitors with gifts to their home. In 1775, a British soldier asks to marry one of the village girls, offering goods in exchange for the marriage.