"Where the Wild Ladies Are" by Aoko Matsuda

The wild ladies of this book are ghosts, caught up in the swirl of modern life, many working for the mysterious Mr. Tei, who appreciates their powers, powers no one seemed to understand when they were alive. Though at first the stories appear to stand alone, as you read, little tendrils of connection stretch between them, making them stranger and richer and funnier in retrospect. Matsuda's tone is blunt and declarative, and her ghosts (and people) live in our world of motivational wellness-speak and luxury signifiers like boar-bristle hair brushes. An appendix at the end outlines the plots of the classic Japanese tales Matsuda is riffing on, but you don't need to know them to enjoy these stories.