Robin Grant, his wife Tilley and 10 year-old daughter Elspeth arrive in East Africa in the early years of the 20th century with the intention of establishing a coffee plantation. When they arrive, they find that the land, access and the availability of farm labor aren't anywhere near what was promised in the prospectus. Living in tents, they set about building themselves a home and befriending some of the local natives, who offer to help the build the house. They soon start working the land but life is hard and they begin to doubt the wisdom of their decision.

The Grants get new neighbors when Hereward and Lettice Palmer arrive. He was an officer in the British Indian Army and neither seem prepared for the hardship they must face. Lettice almost goes to pieces when she finds their headman has been badly beaten and lay dying. She tells her husband that that she's not sure she wants to stay. Mr. Roos offers to show Robin's workers how to handle the plow animals but Robin doesn't quite agree with his handling of the local Africans, including Sammy. Elspeth receives a gift of two chameleons which she names George and Mary.

At the end of 1913, Tilly and Robin travel to Nairobi with the Palmers to ring in the new year. They leave Eslpeth in the care of Mrs. Nimmo, whose husband is still away. On New Year's eve, Mrs. Nimmo has a party and invites Alec Wilson and another couple. A good time is had by all - even when one of the guests begins to shoot up the place. A friend of the Palmers, Ian Crawford, arrives after acquiring horses in Abyssinia and Elspeth receives a very special gift. Crawford is very much attracted to Lettice but she resists his advances.

Elspeth and Sammy are in put in danger when they face a herd of rampaging elephants. Mrs. Nimmo attends to Sammy's wife who has had a miscarriage, but her recommendation that the woman be transported to the hospital in Nairobi is overruled when the family brings in the local medicine man. Robin has been blasting old trees and stumps, but tragedy ensues when Sammy's young son steals blasting caps from a locked shed. Njombo becomes mysteriously ill and while the doctor can find nothing wrong with him, he is convinced that a curse has been placed on him, most likely by Sammy who seems to blame him for his recent losses.

The Palmers receive their new piano and face a challenge in getting it moved to the farm. Hereward is worried about Lettice and whether she has the stamina to bear living in Africa. He notes that about the only activity she engages in is to go on safari with Ian Crawford. As Lettice and Hereward's marriage begins to disintegrate, it is apparent to almost everyone that Ian and Lettice are in love. When one of Lettice's beloved pekingese is carried away by a leopard, Hereward, Robin and Alec Wilson set off to kill it. They eventually turn to Mr. Roos for some professional advice.