Witty, inventive, and profound, Where the Wild Ladies Are is a contemporary feminist retelling of traditional ghost stories by one of Japan's most exciting writers.
In a company run by the mysterious Mr. Tei, strange things are afoot - incense sticks lead to a surprise encounter; a young man reflects on his mother's death; a fox-like woman finally finds her true calling. As female ghosts appear in unexpected guises, their gently humorous encounters with unsuspecting humans lead to deeper questions about emancipation and recent changes in Japanese women's lives.
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'Good evening to you, sir!' He'd ignored the doorbell three times already when he heard the woman's voice carrying through the thick steel door. THE PEONY LANTERNS
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(@TiltedAxisPress, 13 February 2020, ebook, 194 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveInc, translated by @pollyfmbarton)
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I'm a huge fan of Japanese literature specially horror and the supernatural and was really looking forward to reading Where the Wild Ladies Are. I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. Though not all of them were supernatural or ghost stories despite the blurb, some were hard to categorise and I'd loosely describe them as having supernatural overtones. I particularly enjoyed The Peony Lanterns, Smartening Up, Where The Wild Ladies Are, Loved One and Enoki.
