In Shakandazu Valley, a typical small rural town in the Ciskei, ruled over by the Inkosi from the grand mansion called The Residence, attention is diverted from the boredom of daily life and the pressure of the severe drought by various pursuits: movies, parties, socializing, drinking — and speculating about one of the Valley's newest and most mysterious residents — Roger Hall.
Hard times were coming, the old Sazi foretold — the storm-clouds were gathering and the harsh years-long drought was about to break — but something worse was to follow, and the carcasses of beasts and men would fill the river side by side, and the fate of the town and all who lived there would be changed forever.
