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Fascinated by a mysterious novella, aspiring journalist Robin Fletcher is determined to find out more about the book's main character, a man known only as J.B. His quest leads him from the wheat fields of Kansas to a small, disadvantaged country in Africa.

Thousands of miles from Kansas, in the small village of Ataku, half-caste chief Letivi grapples with his village's problems. The villagers' main source of income, subsistence cocoa farming, cannot compete with global companies. Young people are leaving the village, and the village's only store is under the control of a foreign businessman.

Letivi also has personal problems. Wifeless and childless, his ability to understand the family struggles of his village is under question. His supernaturally sensitive mother is dying, a tragedy coinciding with the death of the enormous baobab tree into which Letivi's father disappeared years ago.

As Letivi and the villagers plan the development of a cocoa processing plant, Fletcher traces J.B. to Ataku, prompting a spontaneous trip to Africa with Molly, a ravishing but erratic woman with family ties to the elusive J.B. When Letivi, Molly, and Robin meet, cultures clash and calamitous events are set in motion that change Ataku forever.