Where the Wild Ladies Are

Aoko Matsuda reimagines the ghosts and shape-shifters of traditional Japanese folktales and kabuki theater for the present day. In these stories the spirits of wronged women, foxes and other supernatural beings turn up in offices, apartments and ordinary neighborhoods, where they look after the living, grumble about work and quietly push back against what is expected of women. A team of employees at an unusual company, a pair of women selling lanterns to a visitor, and a young woman who falls for a ghost are among the figures readers meet. Some stories are funny, others tender or eerie. Translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, the collection won the World Fantasy Award for best collection and suits adult readers who enjoy folklore and feminist fiction.