During the mid-to-late sixties, twin sisters Olanna (BAFTA Award winning actress Thandie Newton) and Kainene decide to return to Nigeria after their education in England. Olanna moves in with her lover, the “revolutionary professor” Odenigbo (Academy Award nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor), while Kainene takes over the family businesses. As the Igbo people struggle to establish Biafra as an independent republic, the sisters become caught up in the shocking violence of the Nigerian Civil War and a betrayal that threatens their family forever.