One Leg On Earth

“A portrait of a woman, a city, and a shared moment in time, and a story about how it feels when the changes in a life are intertwined with bigger, scarier changes in the world outside. One Leg on Earth gripped me from the first page.”

—Amona Ausubel, author of The Last Animal

“Breathtaking! And to borrow a phrase from the book: heart wilding! Written with 'Pemi Aguda's characteristically sharp, thoughtful and gorgeous prose, the deliciously suspenseful and immensely human One Leg on Earth caught me in its wave and I happily, greedily, tumbled along. I adored every word in this book.”

—Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of Monstrilio

“A fearless work of fiction in the lineage of Toni Morrison's Sula. Aguda writes beautifully about the ways realities can break and why sometimes they should be shattered.”

—Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly

“'Pemi Aguda is a brilliantly daring writer like none other with a voice that is unique and powerful. One Leg on Earth is a sharp, funny, bold, nuanced, utterly absorbent debut I did not know I needed. I will read anything 'Pemi Aguda writes!”

—Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun

“Through her intricate and sumptuous prose, 'Pemi Aguda introduces us to a Lagos we have never known before, skilfully rendering its colours and peering into its shadowed corners. Every carefully chosen word draws the reader further into an intrigue that is all at once political, personal, and otherworldly. One Leg on Earth is an enchantment.”

—Shannon Sanders, author of Company

“One Leg on Earth is a haunting, beautiful novel, written with exquisite care. A kind of horror story about the cost of 'progress' for a city, a culture, for a human soul. That horror is balanced by the potency of motherhood, its blessings and its trials. 'Pemi Aguda writes like she knows magic and, based on this book, I believe it.”

—Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women

“One Leg On Earth is a dizzying tale of the gluttony of industry, the intrigue of newness, and the maddening, frightening and ever-growing desire for belonging; set in a Lagos which is as captivating as it is incomprehensible. Aguda is a brilliant storyteller, her prose rich with complicated beauty. One Leg on Earth is a gorgeous debut.”

—Rochelle Dowden-Lord, author of Lush