Seven insightful, at times haunting stories spanning across settings in the Americas, Africa, and Australia. In Namesakes, the very thing two young women reject becomes a treasured prize for another family. In A Playground for the Dark, a woman’s desperation for answers to her recurrent losses drives her to her ruin. In Belonging to Their Own, family ties are tested, proving the strain of belonging to a deeply rooted culture. In The Cult of Gwen Dawson, two variations of loneliness and a longing for companionship unfold. In Beautiful Ashes, the surreal death of a loved one serves as a reminder that life is fleeting. And in Codes of the Badagry Lagoon, a young boy’s torturous adventures take him through the grimy scenes of Lagos.
These stories follow characters in moments of desperation, many of them fleeing from who they truly are. Together, they awaken our shared humanity, our desire for love, for belonging, and for a sense of peace.