For Fauziya Kassindja, an idyllic childhood in Togo, West Africa, sheltered from the tribal practices of polygamy and genital mutilation, ended with her beloved father's sudden death. Forced into an arranged marriage at age seventeen, Fauziya was told to prepare for kakia, the ritual also known as female genital mutilation. It is a ritual no woman can refuse. But Fauziya dared to try.

Stationed as a Peace Corps instructor in the village of Lavié in tiny and underdeveloped Togo, Packer reveals his own schooling at the hands of an unforgettable array of townspeople who find themselves trapped between the familiar repetitions of rural life and the chafing monotony of waiting for change.