Ghostroots

Nigerian writer Aguda debuts with a skillful collection about characters tormented by betrayal, regret, and spirits of the dead. In “Manifest,” written in the second person, the narrator’s mother calls her by her maternal grandmother’s name, Agnes. As the narrator loses touch with reality, the story builds to a chilling conclusion: “In the mirror, you do not recognize yourself.” The narrator of “Imagine Me Carrying You” observes her mother’s unsettling preoccupation with the memory of accidentally hitting and killing a young woman with her car: “She rocked herself back and forth and made sounds that reminded me of a horror movie.” In “Breastmilk,” a young mother’s milk is slow to arrive as she grieves over her husband’s infidelity. The evocative closer, “Masquerade Season,” portrays a boy who encounters three men wearing the traditional beads and feathers of Igbo masquerades, though there’s no festival happening, and the men follow him home and join his life. Some entries are underbaked, such as “Birdwoman,” in which a woman’s encounter with a magician leads to her ability to fly. Overall, though, Nigerian myth and reality harmoniously come together in these meticulously constructed tales. These vivid slices of life are worth a look. (May)