Horror / Fantasy
Date Published: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Android Press
In December 2019, as Ghana’s vibrant streets buzz with the climax of the
“Year of Return,” an initiative marking 400 years since the first
enslaved Africans were forcibly taken to Virginia, Adwapa, a Ghanaian
journalist living in the U.S., decides to journey back to her homeland.
Accompanied by friends, she seeks to reconnect with his roots during this
historic commemoration, unaware that the trip will lead them into the heart
of a mystery that transcends time and reality.
As the celebrations reach their zenith, the Atlantic Ocean, witness to
untold horrors of the past, begins to stir with an ancient and restless
energy. From its depths emerge the spirits of the enslaved, those who
perished in the harrowing Middle Passage, returning not in peace but in
turmoil. Their emergence sends shockwaves around the globe, transforming the
“Year of Return” into a haunting spectacle of reawakened histories
and unresolved grievances.
As the line between the living and the dead blurs, Adwapa finds herself
caught in a whirlwind of supernatural events and historical reckonings. With
each passing day, the ghosts grow more powerful, their centuries-old sorrows
manifesting in a series of chilling, vengeful acts that threaten to unravel
the very fabric of the present.
Praise for The Year of Return
“Ivana Akotowaa Ofori’s THE YEAR OF RETURN is a haunting, darkly
evocative tale of the ghosts of the past, delivering a harrowing vision of
history’s undeniable grasp on the present and the future
alike.”
—Kevin
Wabaunsee, assistant editor at Escape Pod, former managing editor of the
SFWA
“A moving and timely perspective on one of the greatest horrors in
human history. Ofori presents ancient and recent events in a startlingly
original take about our responsibilities to our past, our present, and our
future.”
—R.S.A.
Garcia, Locus, Sturgeon, Nebula and IGNYTE Award finalist
EXCERPT
“Six more Coasters joined the first rising out of the sea, their ghostly bodies appearing to form out of darkening ocean mist… But as frightening as their physical presence was, the real terror came from the way they troubled the atmosphere itself, permeating everything with a darkness that clawed its way into one’s soul.”
About the Author
Ivana Akotowaa Ofori is a Ghanaian storyteller. Known also by the alias of
“The Spider Kid,” she is a weaver of words in many forms,
including fiction, non-fiction and spoken-word poetry. Akotowaa has been
nominated for various awards for her prose writing. Her work is included in
the Flash Fiction Ghana anthology, Kenkey for Ewes and Other Very Short
Stories, and the Writivism anthology, And Morning Will Come. Writing aside,
Akotowaa spends much of her time looking for excuses to make everything
purple. She has been included in the Africa Risen Anthology 2022 (Tor.com)
with her short story, “Exiles of Witchery.”
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