The Rat's Attic reviewed Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda
Lagos City Blues
4 stars
I offered this book up as a random option for a book club read, wanting something short, recent and Nigerian. It has been great fun having the fact that Nigeria is one of the major hubs of modern day English literature slowly dawn on me, with the classic greats such and Chinua Achebe and Amos Tutuola, but also more recent authors of the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The voices are fresh, replete with understandings and experiences which are a far cry from the typical North American or British offerings, and Ghostroots - far from perfect as it may be - did not disappoint.
We find ourselves gifted with 12 short stories, each of a perfect length to be read in a single evening with ample time to meditate on the themes and forms the stories take on. My personal two favourites are “Breastmilk” - a story of a woman …
I offered this book up as a random option for a book club read, wanting something short, recent and Nigerian. It has been great fun having the fact that Nigeria is one of the major hubs of modern day English literature slowly dawn on me, with the classic greats such and Chinua Achebe and Amos Tutuola, but also more recent authors of the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The voices are fresh, replete with understandings and experiences which are a far cry from the typical North American or British offerings, and Ghostroots - far from perfect as it may be - did not disappoint.
We find ourselves gifted with 12 short stories, each of a perfect length to be read in a single evening with ample time to meditate on the themes and forms the stories take on. My personal two favourites are “Breastmilk” - a story of a woman struggling to come to terms with her acceptance of the inacceptable - and “The Hollow” - a story about what houses can be, and which left me regularly and emphatically saying “oh noooooooooo”.
The impact of the different stories varies, but most manage to feel satisfying concluded - not always a given with short stories. There is a decent variety of themes and moods, with the ideas of problematic mothers, men are not ok, and the pains of aging as a woman being some of the most recurrent, while never feeling repetitive for all that they permeate the book. Definitely watch for how pronouns and points of view are used in each story, they add to the fun.
Worth a read, especially with how digestible this book is, and curious which stories will most stand out to other people. For my book club, Breastmilk was the clear stand out.