Adah is the protagonist of the novel, as the narrative centers on Adah’s experiences through a third-person narrator. Adah is a semi-autobiographical stand-in for the author, and Adah shares many life events with Emecheta’s life. Born in Lagos and raised in Ibuza, Nigeria, Adah is an ambitious child, guided by a “Prescence” that pushes her to get an education. She has to fight for her education, defying both of her parents; upon her parents’ deaths, she continues to struggle to pay her way through scholarships and labor.

Through Adah, the novel portrays The Struggle for Independence Amidst Racism and Misogyny. Upon graduating, Adah realizes that she needs to get married in order to secure a place to live, and marries Francis. Marriage, for Adah, is a means to an end; she marries Francis more for utilitarian reasons than love or romance. Working for Americans, Adah earns a good deal of money, supporting herself, her child Titi, Francis, and some of Francis’s family.

The novel also uses Adah to show The Pull Toward Modernity and the Imperial Center. Ada believes that her and her family will have a better life and more opportunities in England than in Nigeria.