'Pemi Aguda

A debut collection of stories set in a hauntingly reimagined Lagos where characters vie for freedom from ancestral ties.

Stories

Ghostroots

The supernatural looms over the grime and sweat of everyday life in Lagos in this debut collection of stories from a prize-winning young Nigerian writer. A woman sees the ghost of her abusive mother in her daughter's face. A mysterious virus wipes out all the boys on one street. A young architect turns up to measure a house, only to find that her drawings make no sense, and the house seems to resist her... The Lagos of these twelve sinister and beguiling stories is multi-faceted, peopled by Pentecostal Christians and exasperated atheists; by tight-knit extended families and struggling single fathers. Here are characters cursed by guilt, bound by the ties of ancestors and community; or enchanted by the allure of mysticism and would-be prophets. There are gossips and party girls - and a schoolboy followed home by a group of tribal masquerades, cloaked in feathers and twinkling beads. Yes, his mother has warned him not to bring strangers home, but he is sure she will understand ... Exploring the dark borders between psychology and superstition, these feverishly imaginative stories of trauma, betrayal, terror and love lay bare the forces of myth, tradition, gender, sexuality and modernity in Nigerian society. Powered by a deep empathy, and glinting with humour and insight, they announce a major new literary talent.

Annalee Newitz

Elizabeth Bear

Sam J. Miller

Catherynne M. Valente

Usman T. Malik

Sarah Pinsker

E. Lily Yu

Lavie Tidhar

Daniel Polansky

Peng Shepherd

Kate Elliott

Matthew Kressel

Carrie Vaughn

Kathleen Jennings

G. V. Anderson

Cheri Kamei

Glen Hirshberg

Jasmin Kirkbride

A. T. Greenblatt

Cooper Shrivastava

A collection of some of the best original science fiction and fantasy short fiction published on Tor.com in 2021. Includes stories by: 'Pemi Aguda G. V. Anderson Elizabeth Bear Kate Elliott Aliza Greenblatt Glen Hirshberg Elsie Kathleen Jennings Cheri Kamei Jasmin Kirkbride Matthew Kressel Usman T. Malik Sam J. Miller Annalee Newitz noc Sarah Pinsker Daniel Polansky Peng Shepherd Cooper Shrivastava Lavie Tidhar Catherynne M. Valente Carrie Vaughn E. Lily Yu At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Tor.com Original

Some of the Best of Tor.com 2021

Wole Talabi

Edwin Okolo

The Naked The Naked Convos

Kiah

Bankole Oluwole

Pamela Tetteh

Uche Okonkwo

Osemhen Akhibi

Olawale Adetula

Chioma Odukwe

Gbolahan Adeola

Marilyn Eshikena

Wale Lawal

Tokunbo Aworinde

A mother's warning to her young daughter not to leave home . . . A question that changes a relationship in ways no one could have predicted . . . A silence that speaks more than words ever could . . . TheNakedConvos brings you an emotional, thought-provoking, inspiring and altogether fascinating invitation to exploration, honesty, vulnerability, connection, celebration of relationships, and self-discovery. Have you ever read a story that left you feeling naked, vulnerable and exposed? These Words Expose Us is an anthology of stories from young, award-winning Nigerian writers, including Uche Okonkwo, Pemi Aguda, Gbolahan Adeola, Osemhen Akhibi and many, many more. From Lagos to Benin, Ibadan to New York, these are our stories - the stories we never tell, the stories we suspect our neighbors live, the stories our friends and lovers are afraid to tell us. But they are only stories made of words. Just words. Even if These Words Expose Us.

An Anthology

These Words Expose Us

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Ghostroots, a debut novel that thrills with its eerie mix of folklore and history. Something is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. Across the city, they are walking into water . . . and drowning. Twenty-three-year-old Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to start her life. Working for a slick architectural firm, she finds a city of adventure and opportunity. Her new world is one of fancy gallery openings, glamorous friends, and all the shiny potential of the future, encapsulated in projects like Omi City, the ultra-luxury development her company is building, a symbol of the dawn of a brighter Lagos. But Yosoye’s idyllic vision of Lagos soon begins to seem naive, and its darker, stranger layers trouble her. Something is not right about Omi City, and as construction speeds ahead, stories of strange deaths in the city’s open waters reach a fever pitch. And then, after a chance encounter, Yosoye discovers she is pregnant . . . a revelation which puts her on a collision course with an inexplicable force that is as seductive as it is deadly. A masterwork by a writer hailed as “an astonishing talent” (Lauren Groff), One Leg on Earth is an ambitious novel like no other: a coming-of-age story, an uncanny exploration of motherhood, and a chilling vision of the dark side of progress.

A Novel

One Leg on Earth

Finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction Finalist for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalist for the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction Longlisted for The Story Prize Includes the Story "Breastmilk," Shortlisted for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing One of Time's 10 Best Fiction Books of 2024 • One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2024 • One of Electric Literature's Best Debut Story Collections • A Library Journal Best Book of the Year • A Vulture Best Book of the Year • A Chicago Public Library Must-Read Book of 2024 • A Daily Mail (UK) Best Book of the Year • One of Elle's Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024 • An ALA Notable Book 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 daughter's 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 mother's 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 that's 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.

Finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction Finalist for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalist for the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction Finalist for the 2025 Young Lions Fiction Award Longlisted for The Story Prize Longlisted for the 10th Annual Clark Fiction Prize Includes the Story "Breastmilk," Shortlisted for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing One of Time's 10 Best Fiction Books of 2024 - One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2024 - One of Electric Literature's Best Debut Story Collections - A Library Journal Best Book of the Year - A Vulture Best Book of the Year - A Chicago Public Library Must-Read Book of 2024 - A Daily Mail (UK) Best Book of the Year - One of Elle's Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024 - An ALA Notable Book A debut collection of stories set in a hauntingly reimagined Lagos where characters vie for freedom from ancestral ties

Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he's expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Masquerade Season

'Pemi Aguda

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