Philly Reads Philly Book Club: Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda

​​Hosted by At My House in Queen Village, Philly Reads Philly is a new book club focused on reading books about Philly or written by authors based in the Philadelphia area.

​​​​For our fourth meeting, we'll be reading the book Ghostroots by local author 'Pemi Aguda.

​We are so excited that 'Pemi will be joining us for this meeting to discuss her book, so bring your questions for the author with you!

​​​When you sign up to attend, you'll get a discount code for 15% off a copy of Ghostroots at Head House Books.

​The book is also available at the library in hardcover and as an e-book.

​​More about the book:

​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.

​More about 'Pemi:

​’Pemi Aguda is an MFA graduate from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her writing has been published in Granta, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, and other publications, and has been awarded the O. Henry Prize for short fiction. She is from Lagos, Nigeria, and is currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.