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Ghostroots: Stories
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
6 posts | 4 read | 11 to read
A debut collection of stories set in a hauntingly reimagined Lagos where characters vie for freedom from ancestral ties. In this beguiling collection of twelve imaginative stories set in Lagos, Nigeria, Pemi Aguda dramatizes the tension between our yearning to be individuals and the ways we are haunted by what came before. In Manifest, a woman sees the ghost of her abusive mother in her daughters face. Shortly after, the daughter is overtaken by wicked and destructive impulses. In Breastmilk, a wife forgives her husband for his infidelity. Months later, when she is unable to produce milk for her newborn, she blames herself for failing to uphold her mothers feminist values and doubts her fitness for motherhood. In Things Boys Do, a trio of fathers finds something unnatural and unnerving about their infant sons. As their lives rapidly fall to pieces, they begin to fear that their sons are the cause of their troubles. And in 24, Alhaji Williams Street, a teenage boy lives in the shadow of a mysterious disease thats killing the boys on his street. These and other stories in Ghostroots map emotional and physical worlds that lay bare the forces of family, myth, tradition, gender, and modernity in Nigerian society. Powered by a deep empathy and glinting with humor, they announce a major new literary talent.
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review
sarahbarnes
sarahbarnes
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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Pickpick

I liked this strange collection of stories - another satisfying read from the #TOB2025 longlist that I may not have picked up otherwise. In some ways they reminded me of Carmen Machado‘s story collection that I loved - bizarre events presented in a matter of fact style that I am really drawn to.

Liz_M Oooooh similar to CMM? I'm in. 1mo
squirrelbrain I‘m just not drawn to this for some reason. I *can* get it from the library but I don‘t even feel like trying it. 🤷‍♀️ 1mo
TheKidUpstairs I loved this collection. I'm not generally a huge fan of short stories, but this one was something special! 1mo
See All 9 Comments
BarbaraBB If you and @TheKidUpstairs loved it I can‘t resist it. Stacking! 1mo
sarahbarnes @Liz_M I‘ll be interested to see what you think of that comparison if you read it. It was just something about the vibe. 1mo
sarahbarnes @squirrelbrain I get it - I feel that way about a few from the list, even ones that others like. I can‘t make myself pick them up. 1mo
sarahbarnes @TheKidUpstairs good to know you liked it, too. @BarbaraBB I‘ll be interested to hear what you think if you try it! 1mo
Reggie I love Machado, also last year or the year before they had a collection of short stories all about lesbians and climate change and I loved it. Stacked. 1mo
sarahbarnes @Reggie I love that collection so much! 1mo
47 likes2 stack adds9 comments
review
Suet624
Suet624
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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Bailedbailed

I‘ve tried twice and read a few of the stories. It‘s on several long lists for prizes but I uncharacteristically have decided to bail on it mid-read.

squirrelbrain I‘ve just not been drawn to this at all, even though it‘s on many lists and I‘m a list completist. 🤷‍♀️ 2mo
BarbaraBB That‘s another on the #ToB25 longlist I don‘t need to read 😀 2mo
Suet624 @squirrelbrain I know! I felt the same way! And then when it was on the 2025 TOB longlist I went for it. Got it from the library AGAIN and it just didn't call to me. Then after reading a few stories I gave up. 2mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB I imagine it would take you 4 hours to read it, so maybe crack it open and see? Others apparently love it. 2mo
50 likes4 comments
blurb
Chelsea.Poole
Chelsea.Poole
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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Well, here I am again squirreling around with my books. This one was available on Libby as an ebook, and I impulsively downloaded it, thinking I would try a story or two. And shock and awe—-I‘m enjoying another short story collection! Ghostroots is all I want to read currently 😆 Thanks to #tob25

Chelsea.Poole Just read @TheKidUpstairs review of this which was positive so I should have known I‘d like it too. Only 4 stories in, but so far so good! 3mo
Suet624 Just got this from the library. Looking forward to it! 3mo
TheKidUpstairs So good, glad you're liking it too! 2mo
sarahbarnes This one is on my list from TOB too! 2mo
82 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
TheKidUpstairs
TheKidUpstairs
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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Pickpick

When the National Book Awards shortlist was announced, this was one of two on the fiction list I had not yet read, and the only one I hadn't heard of. It also happened to be available right away on Libby. I was hooked from the first.
Short stories of the eerie, unsettling, and sometimes horrific, set in Lagos, Nigeria. Aguda knows how to ensnare with just a few short sentences, how to skew the everyday just enough to shift reality... cont'd

TheKidUpstairs ...and how to play cultural mythologies and modern urbanity off each other with engrossing, disquieting results.

It is a great October read for those who prefer their horror of the quietly unsettling variety, rather than the bloody, gruesome jump scare style.

Rare for a book of short stories, I did not feel there was a weak link in this collection. But particular highlights for me were The Hollow and Birdwoman. 4mo
sarahbarnes Wow, great review! 4mo
54 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
TheKidUpstairs
TheKidUpstairs
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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“A long time ago, there was a woman who lived elsewhere in the city. What is a house - this woman wondered, as her husband dragged her body, like a mop, over faded linoleum floors - but a pressure cooker, a vent pipe screaming steam?“

I'm really into this collection so far - full of arresting, unsettling imagery. And I just love this cover!

Sace Stacked! 4mo
48 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
Hooked_on_books
Hooked_on_books
Ghostroots: Stories | 'Pemi Aguda
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Pickpick

This collection of stories set in Nigeria gives a flavor of place and culture. There are magical realism elements in most of the stories, which I wish had been carried all the way through, as they‘re very effective. Good collection.

NBA longlist, fiction

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 4mo
37 likes1 comment