Ghostroots x ‘Pemi Aguda (DRC)

224 pages.

Expected publication date: May 7, 2024 (W. W. Norton & Company)

Fiction anthology.

Lagos. So much literature is set there that I feel like I’ve been to that legendary place. Ghostroots is the latest collection of short stories to tackle Lagos, and, like others, it too teems with large city life and also the supernatural. There’s the woman who looks like her grandmother, or is possibly possessed by her. The night market, that wonderfully spooky urban legend. Death stalks a particular street; can residents escape it? A daughter learns to mother her mother after a terrible accident on Ibadan Expressway.

There were stories I really loved. My favourite, Contributions, is an African feminist tale on the common practice of esusu (Yoruba, known as stokvel in South Africa, and many other names on the continent), and is also about how tired women are. The Hollow is also a feminist tale, about a house that protects women. In Birdwoman, an unhappy woman turns into a bird, but people misunderstand right to the end. And Masquerade Season is a lovely and whimsical story about a little boy and his friends from folklore.

While Ghostroots is a nice collection, it didn’t stir me like I’d hoped. This is really a fault of the format: not all short stories are created equal, and I connected with some in this collection, but not others. Aguda is an excellent writer, if somewhat cautious; I would love more daring stories like The Dusk Market and Masquerade Season, where I feel her talent really shines. Still, readers should enjoy this collection; it’s very much worth picking up.

Grateful thanks to W. W. Norton and Edelweiss for early access.

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