At the heart of the novel is Tomason, an African artist living along the Rimac, who paints religious murals for the church and his colonial masters. The intermingling of his Yoruba heritage with his life in a Spanish colony transforms him into a griot figure who unearths the deeper truths of his painful and complex experience by sharing it. Many other memorable characters' stories - their lives and passions, their suffering and their dreams - intertwine with Tomason's tale, developing a narrative that powerfully reflects on the themes of dislocation, persecution, and enslavement. Malambo explores the origins of the Afro-Hispanic experience and offers a profound meditation on the forces of history.