Ghostroots

'Pemi Aguda’s debut, a 2024 National Book Award finalist, is an unsettling short story collection set in a mythical version of the author’s homeland of Lagos, Nigeria. The 12 gothic tales spotlight characters, often mothers and daughters, who are haunted by the ghosts of their ancestors. Their stories include: an aging woman who spirals into depression after inadvertently killing a pedestrian, a new mother who struggles to produce breast milk after forgiving her husband’s infidelity, and a cruel young woman who worries she has been possessed by the spirit of her abusive grandmother. Adding to the tension is the question of whether the ghosts tormenting these characters are in fact real or the result of a mental illness. Aguda chooses not to tip her hand—an adept choice that makes Ghostroots all the more terrifying.

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