The story is set in West African Igbo rural community. The protagonist, Efuru, is a strong and beautiful woman. She is the daughter of Nwashike Ogene, a hero and leader of his tribe. She falls in love with a poor farmer called Adizua and runs away with him, upsetting her people as he did not even perform the traditional wine carrying and pay her bride price. She supports her husband financially and is very loyal to him, which makes her mother-in-law and aunt by marriage very fond of her. At this point, she accepts to be helped around her house by a young girl named Ogea in order to help her parents who are in financial difficulty. However, Adizua soon abandons Efuru and their daughter Ogonim as his own father has done in past. After her daughter dies, Efuru discovers that he has married another woman and had a child with her. Her in-laws try to convince her to stay with him, i.e. remain in waiting in their marital house. Efuru then tries to look for him, but after failing, she leaves his house and goes back to the house of her father who receives her happily as she can care for him better than others. Efuru then meets Gilbert, an educated man in her age group. He asks to marry her and follows traditions by visiting her father, and she accepts. The first year of their marriage is a happy one. However, Efuru is not able to conceive any children, so this begins to cause trouble. She is later chosen by the goddess of the lake, Uhamiri, to be one of her worshipers, Uhamiri being known to offer her worshipers wealth and beauty but few children. Efuru’s second marriage eventually also fails as her husband mistreats her in favor of his second and third wives.
