Batuba, an African child of the Beti tribe, grows up in the remote rain forest village of Biyen. He meets the rest of the world when he travels to the big city to persue university studies, all the while longing for simple and genuine life of his beloved Biyen. He returns after graduation to find that “progress”- that is the unrelenting love of quick profit- has destroyed what he holds dearest: his land. His cry of deep anger and frustration, his path of physical and emotional, psychological and spiritual growth resonates with many of the readers who have experienced similar changes and emotions. The novel is a coming-of-age-novel, Batuba’s world is everyone’s world. He wishes to bring innovation to his land but do so with respect for tradition and nature-as all of us do!