Adam from the Earth tells the story of Akuwo, a boy born in an isolated compound in northern Nigeria. As a child, Akuwo lives in a world suffused with spirit and wonder, seeing the colour of breath and hearing the whispering of the world around him. But as war approaches his world begins to crumble. War displaces him first to the city, then into the hands of soldiers. Escaping, Akuwo is found by an English professor who takes him to England as his adopted son. There, Akuwo becomes Adam, and gradually silences the mystical world of his childhood in favour of a rational, secular life. Years later, when cracks form in his carefully constructed identity, Adam is drawn back to Nigeria to retrace Akuwo’s steps. Here, he must confront the two conflicting world views that demand his acceptance.
