Briefly Noted Book Reviews

"Set in Lagos, this moody, engrossing novel braids together the stories of three women reared to believe that they are cursed because of a shared ancestor's adultery. The novel opens with the suicide, by drowning, of one of the women, whose death is cast as the "inevitable consequence" of her forebear's actions. Shortly after that woman's funeral, her cousin gives birth to a daughter, who bears such a striking resemblance"

"In this ecologically inflected novel, Agnes, a forensic anthropologist, is asked to identify the body of a woman found in an English peat bog. Remarkably preserved, the body turns out to be more than two thousand years old. As Agnes tries to learn more about the woman's death, she encounters obstacles from a company intent on peat extraction and a group of environmentalists occupying the site in protest."

One story set in Lagos follows three women raised to believe a family curse stems from an ancestor's adultery. A suicide by drowning is cast as the inevitable consequence, and a newborn's striking resemblance to the deceased prompts beliefs in reincarnation. The protagonists attempt to avoid the fate of preceding generations while confronting tradition, prejudice, and superstition that constrain personal freedom. Another story follows a forensic anthropologist called to identify a remarkably preserved body from an English peat bog, over two thousand years old. Corporate peat extraction and occupying environmentalists impede the investigation, while interludes voiced by moss and the ancient woman's perspective emphasize ecological interconnectedness across time.

Read at The New Yorker