The novel starts in the village of Ixopo, where the reverend black pastor, Stephen Kumalo, receives a letter from the priest Theophilus Msimangu in Johannesburg. Msimangu asks Kumalo to come to the city to help his sister, Gertrude, because he says she is ill. His sister Gertrude had left the countryside village of Ndotsheni some time ago in search of better job prospects and his son, Absalom, had gone to find Gertrude. But Kumalo has not heard from them for a long time. Kumalo goes to Johannesburg to help Gertrude, and to find his son, Absalom. None of them write anymore, so Kumalo takes to the city.
When he gets to the city, Kumalo finds Gertrude and she tells, that she live a life of prostitution, and now she is drinking heavily. She agrees to return to the village with her young son.
On the search for his son Absalom, Kumalo first see his brother John, who has got a gut life in Johannesburg, and who has become involved in the politics of South Africa.
Kumalo and Msimangu follow Absalom's trail only to learn that Absalom has been in a reformatory and impregnated a young woman. Shortly after, Kumalo learns that his son has been arrested for the murder of Arthur Jarvis, a white fighter for racial justice and son of Kumalo's neighbor James Jarvis.
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