Paul van Zyl, a young white Afrikaner, gains permission to live with an African tribe called the Lovedu to study their culture for his thesis. The tribe is ruled by Mujaji, the Rain Queen who maintains her power through strong taboos. The ill-fated romance between Paul and Tsokodena, the rain queen's daughter, highlights the cruelty of apartheid and the miscarriages of justice in South Africa. There are many drafts of this unpublished novel, written over a long period of time. A letter from the publishers suggests that the first draft was completed before 1961, and references to the death of Steve Biko in September 1977 dates the latter text post 1977. Two typescript versions remain, text A and B.