Some minor details of what they physically carry is mentioned but like the Tim O'Brien book this conveys a deeper meaning that they are carrying hope to rescue the souls of Africans.
The Price family meets with some other Westerners like the Underdowns and some Belgians before departing on a smaller plane to a village known as Kilanga. From Mary Ruth the young child’s point of view she is disgusted by the Africans like she would be Blacks back in Georgia. Rachel on the other hand is sickened primarily by the sheer smell of the savages and the destitute they call home and a place of worship. Also strongly recollecting her dad’s version of "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God" which terrifies even the large non English speaking majority. Adah's perspective here is as limited as her abilities giving us half the info the others did.
From Leah she and the Father go out to show the locals how to plant crops the right way. Their servant Mama Tataba warns them to not plant 'poisonwood tree' and to plant the seeds in mounds not flat. The Americans simply ignore these so the dad gets a bad rash and after seeing the seeds in mounds flattens them. Some information about the previous missionary is given like how was an Irish Catholic from NYC that was lost to the frayed ends of sanity only to leave a helper and parrot named Methuselah. Rachel sheds light on the summer with an anecdote on the late Easter thrown to raise church attendance which is almost nonexistent. Orleanna's cooking of chicken is what gathers most of the village while the dad loathes over his failed baptism. Ruth is in awe of how the Africans focus more on the different colored hair and eyes of her family then Adah's disability since lost and permanent damaged body parts is commonplace here. The other main thought from here is how the natives degraded the bodies of the dead using them for tools. Adah gives perspective on how the early rain showers wash away the flatly planted seeds as the others go to replant this time they use the advice to plant in mounds. The seeds planted as retold by Leah seem to grow large but yield no fruit to eat. Then the cake mix for Rachel's coming birthday was ruined by the moisture in the air. The reason becomes apparent why the villagers oppose baptism due to a crocodile devouring a young one earlier. Mama Tataba leaves but teaches the family vital survival skills.
Quick flash forward showing their demise due to radical stances on social and religious reasons. The girls are subject to the torture of school work with only a few hours of daylight to roam freely. When Ruth May breaks her arm her and Nathan must fly to a larger city in order to receive real medical treatment. Political tenses swell up between the doctor and Nathan but Nathan insist the rebels are rowdy but will not threaten the God protected whites. The teacher of the village Anatole has been doing the translations for the Prices. He and Rachel agree that the incursion of new ideas has the potential to disrupt the country these ideas being faith toward God and the belief of an independent Congo.
While fetching water almost two miles away Adah and Leah, Adah is presumed eaten by a lion as its tracks follow hers. The chief Tata Ndu believed it was his god’s vengeance over her yet he was incorrect. Diseases afflict the village thankfully the worst to hit the Westerners is mild malaria in Leah; this panic causes Orleanna to force her family into quarantine for the time being.
Independence is coming much sooner than expected in 30 days instead of 30 years. This news comes from the Underdowns and is alarming to the Missionary League. The village although ignorant and illiterate will voice their opinions by placing stones over different objects. With the radical Patrice Lumumba the victor Orleanna begs her husband to abandon but he will stick to his mission. Nathan and Leah go to watch the new leader emerge in the capital while the rest stay in the village. At Leopoldville the wealth gap from the apartide is obvious as the parrot is eaten simultaneously.
Ruth and Orleanna remain stricken and bedridden for no explained reason. Things grow worse for the Price family and their church which has no more funding and no loyal members. The terrible times continue as another separatist movement grows in the South where most of the important resources reside. More news of the slaughter of whites is heard in various parts of the country.
Brother Folwes returns to talk about his differing views of Christianity with the village which upsets Nathan. As Mary Ruth grows sicker Tata Ndu randomly proposes to her so to avoid directly insulting him and the village she pretends to be married to the pilot. Flesh eating ants swarm the village causing destruction everywhere so all the people feel toward the river.
Leah wanting to join the hunt after famine continues to hammer down the village is seen as unacceptable. Her father and the chief find this insane with only Anatole on her side; for her participation a great curse is said to come which almost does when Anatole wakes up next to a mamba snake. Women and children not hunting stay back and burn that which was killed to be made into food. Leah kills an antelope but the chief’s son takes credit after arguing he makes her skin it. Rachel hurt by the slaughter decided to become a vegetarian. Divided the food is more troublesome than expected.
By now Ruth May has been in bed for a long time and Leah is disowned her father will no longer even punish her. Nelson one night wants to be let in to hide from a supposed curse. However Nathan says no yet the girls let him in anyway putting ashes behind them to make footprints. They discover a left foot with 6 toes meaning Kata Kuvunda and scare the snake away early only to have it bite Ruth May. Nathan baptizes the dead Ruth May and pours water upon the local children by the river to save their souls.
The Price women decide to trek to Leopoldville with only oranges and water from some villagers. On the way they meet others from the sane village attending to their husbands in the city of Bulungu on the route there Leah is hit hard by malaria and bedridden for weeks deciding after she recovers to stay with Anatole and his wife in the Congo. Rachel and pilot Axelroot fly off together to Johannesburg, South Africa where they are married but the pilot constantly leaving for business. Adah and Orleanna make it to the capital since soldiers capture them but are humane enough to take them to an embassy where they are hospitalized and flown back to Georgia. There they live by their old house with Orleanna selling plants she grows and Adah attending college. Leah must remain hidden in a French mission as a nurse while Anatole is thrown in a forced labor camp for supporting the deposed Lumumba. Rachel seeks out a new husband in the upper crust since she is mot officially married to Axelroot; she already has a foothold with Daniel in an affair with her. Leah and Axelroot get married after his three year sentence in prison and move to his home village. Adah is now able to go to medical school due to losing her limp which was caused by a habit and her mom Orleanna lives with her in Atlanta. Still Nathan persists in his useless efforts as a missionary.
By the end Rachel has gone through two more marriages the latter ending in widowing but leaving her a luxury hotel. Leah and Anatole are moving constantly to establish a commune farm to feed locals but many places they go are threatened by war. They plan to cross into Angola but once again the United States is stirring up revolt there too causing war and death. On a reunion where Orleanna and Adah revisit Africa the Apartide racial policy prevents Rachel from allowing the Black Anatole from staying at her hotel. Nathan the Father ends up losing his mind and forcibly baptizing many children at a local village by putting them on a boat and turning it over. He is the only one to survive the crocodile attacks but is chased to a wooden watchtower and the angry relatives burn it to the ground ending him. Enduring difficulties on their farm Leah and Anatole try to survive and provide for their four children the last named Nathaniel after her father. Orleanna ends up living on a small island off of Georgia called Sanderling where she continues to grow her passion for gardening. Adah works for the CDC with no handicaps present making it possible for her to perform like a normal doctor.
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