The story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight...

1923: Evangeline English and sister Lizzie head for China's ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, but Eva has her green bicycle and a commission to write a lady cyclist's guide. Present-day London: A young woman finds a man sleeping outside her door and gives him a blanket and pillow. And when she inherits the contents of an unknown woman's apartment, the two embark on an unexpected journey together.