Dele seeks revenge on Sandman, the man who destroyed her family, while uncovering secrets involving a profane parrot.

Jane and Wale Verity and Dele, their twelve year old daughter, meet Sandman after a military coup. In revenge for Jane’s colonial past in Roko, Sandman frames Wale for murder. He rapes Dele. Jane is killed.

Ten years later Sandman is a cabinet minister and Dele is a lonely medical student, yearning for her missing dad and for revenge. She meets Mrs Lagbaja, an elderly patient and passionate parrot lover. One night Mrs Lagbaja disturbs trespassers in her house and finds that while she was away her prized African Grey parrot, Confucius, has acquired a profane vocabulary. Mrs Lagbaja is still trying to make sense of these events when Sandman ransacks her house and removes Confucius. Distraught, she turns to Dele for help.

Dele sees a chance for revenge. “If the eye picks a fight with even the tiniest grain of sand it must end in tears” she says. But will Dele’s grim quest for retribution claim her too? The Line in the Sand is a powerful story about the deep human need for justice.