Sovereign Body relates an educated African woman's effort to break free from patriarchal oppression and prejudices. Anna, bright poet and academic, faces crushing marriage problems when her doctor husband abandons his practice and waits for a political appointment which does not come. As Anna finds home more oppressive, she turns to a professor, a former lover with whom she had severed a relationship upon her marriage. The doctor's mental breakdown and Anna's duty to him make her future uncertain. Set in Nigeria of the military regime era, Anna's struggle against patriarchy parallels and highlights the people's contention against military dictatorship for freedom.