Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery. One of Oprah’s Best Books of the Year and a PEN/Hemingway award winner,… award winner, Homegoing follows the parallel paths of these sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. Yaa Gyasi’s extraordinary novel illuminates slavery’s troubled legacy both for those who were taken and those who stayed—and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation.
A New York Times Notable Book
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This is the story of 2 women born in Ghana to the same mother but different fathers. Each daughter has a very different life. One marries a British man, the other is sold as a slave. The story follows their descendants from the beginning in 18th Century Ghana to the current day. Moving account of how slavery changed our world.
3.5 stars is more appropriate. Author Yaa Gyasi offers an intriguing premise. Two half-sisters from Ghana are separated at the height of the slave trade. One becomes the local, much loved “wife” of a British slave trader. The other winds up in a desperately overcrowded hold of a slave ship, bound for the United States. By following these two women and each generation of their descendants, Gyasi offers a telling of the Afro-American experience. Brutal beatings, forced separation from spouses and children, rape, unjust imprisonment, underpaid and unhealthy coal mining jobs, and drug dependency in Harlem are all part of the story. In this way it’s a powerful read.
What disappointed me is that there is really only one chapter on each person’s story. And, while many are engaging (some more than others), you wind up leaving each person behind, almost as soon as you become engaged in their narrative. Sometimes you learn a bit more about a character in the next chapter, but not always. It’s a bit like reading one of Edward Rutherford’s novels (i.e. Sarum, London, Russka) where he too follows generations of a family through history. With both authors, I think their goal is using individual anecdotes to further a more important overall story from history. In that, Gyasi succeeds in portraying the American story of slavery — with all its evil and horror.
I would give this book 10 stars if I could! I love to write, but I know that I don’t have the words to give “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi, the adoration it deserves. I laughed, but I cried so much more. Many of my tears were the kind one cries amid something great and triumphant.
I guess that would be my one word for this story triumphant. I’ve often discussed the horrors of slavery, have read, and seen films depicting those horrors. I have taken part in conversations about the black man’s role in enslaving his people but rarely have I seen that betrayal play out so achingly vivid in the pages of a book.
This is the story of generations on both sides of black enslavement. It is the story of the African Chiefs who worked with the British in the formation of a terrible institution. It is the story of the American descendants of the kidnapped and tortured. Yet there are triumphs. While many of the characters found their peace through death, others found it through love, the knowledge of knowing ones’ history, and most of all forgiveness. A sweeping family saga if ever there was one.
Just an exceptional piece of literature.
The story, the structure, the amazing writing. Everything about it is top of the food chain. I have recommended this book so often because it balances perfectly the line between mainstream and importance. It is exceedingly accessible without sacrificing its prose.
The use of time and the generational pull of that which came before is truly beautiful. You find yourself wishing you had more time with some of the characters. But always the next generation and the stain of slavery pulls you forward.
When given the opportunity to give us the Hollywood ending, Gyasi resists and I love her for it. Doing so would have suggested something untrue, that the cycle and curse was somehow complete.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect before reading this book. I can honestly say it is one of my all time favorite books!
The story starts by introducing us to two Asante half sisters who are not aware of each other whose mother is Maame. Maame is enslaved in a Fente household and during a fire escapes but leaves behind her newborn daughter Effia. Maame soon after marries an Asante “Big Man” and they have a daughter named Esi.
Effia known as “the Beauty” grows up being abused by the woman who she believes is her mother and is married off to the British Governor, James Collins who was in charge of the Cape Coast Castle (which was used to house slaves in the trans-Atlantic slave trade). Esi who grew up more pampered due to her powerful father is captured by raiders from another village and sold into slavery where she ends up in America. The story continues with each chapter devoted to one of Effia’s or Esi’s descendants up to present day.
All of the characters and stories were well developed. Yaa Gyasi developed a compelling and well written novel that speaks volumes on ancestry, race, slavery, colonization, and the will to survive.
Thought-provoking
Every character is a world unto themselves and I can’t believe how well Yaa Gyasi depicts each and every one. I believed in every single character and was so pleasantly surprised how the book ended with a tiny bit of closure to bring them together. I can’t imagine how she could have written this book better.
The tragedy in this book is so well-balanced with small victories in every story. The book leaves you with a feeling of awe that so much history has happened, and that each one of us has a past that most of us know nothing about. It definitely made me more curious to find out more about mine!
The only thing I didn’t like about this book going into it is that I thought I was going to be reading a novel with consistent characters, but instead, the book reads like each chapter is its own short story. After I got used to that, I loved it.
An amazing well-written story of the struggle for immigrant families as their children are pulled towards the new culture. It also clearly shows the role of child as guide for the parents in this transition
I liked the premise, but too many situations in the book were ridiculously portrayed that it took me out of the story. For example, a character is in the hold of a ship, headed for slavery, & there isn’t enough room to stand up so people are laying in each other’s excrement and peeing on bodies below them. And then getting pulled out to be raped. It was just too stupid.
This is one of the most important books of our time. Everyone should read it!
This is a splendidly written tale of triumph and tragedy told over several generations. Two sides of the same family experience vastly different lives after they are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Each generation’s love and heartbreak is heard and felt through the many voices that tell this devastatingly wonderful story.
4.5 stars. Very poignant, powerful. The unusual structure takes some time to get into, and it would be difficult to follow the successive generations were it not for the family tree at the front of the book – I had to refer to it at the start of each chapter as a new character was introduced, especially as it alternates between the African and the American branches of the family. But wow…beautifully written and such an indictment of slavery and its aftermath, both sides of the Atlantic.
As an African American, I found this book to be educational, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at the same time. This is one of the few books that takes the roots of slavery and follows its impact into the present day. It does so beautifully (though sad to read at times) and even offered me another perspective of the African journey that I never considered. Non-Black people would also find this relatable as well, but I felt Homegoing allowed me to understand myself better. I think this should be required reading in schools, or at least on every African American’s reading list.
This book covers several generations of a family from Ghana. It starts with two half sisters named Effia and Esi. They are born in different villages and their lives take completely different paths. Effia marris an Englishman and lives in a castle. Esi is improisoned under the castle in the dungeons and then is sent to America to work as a slave. Effia’s family expands and grows in Ghana and Esi – her children and grandchildren into America where they spend generations as slaves.
In Ghana, the Fante and Asante nations fight against British Rule. Esi’s family works through the Civil War, the Great Migration, and then through coal mines and jazz clubs. Both families are followed through present day and moves at a record speed through the several hundred years of this family’s growth and change. 8 generations in all – it spans the ocean between America and Ghana, ending in Africa with the latest decendents of these women. It covers wars, slavery, drug use, and family struggles in 300 pages. It is a heartbreaking story that is both beautiful and disturbing.
I liked this book. I think it was pretty well written – considering the author is only 26 years old. It did have a bit of an unfinished sense, just because she flew through 8 generations in a short….ish novel. I don’t often say this, but I felt it could be longer to develop the characters a little more, and to give me a feeling of connecting with them on a deeper level.
Overall, listening to the story from the 1700s to present day was fascinating. I like stories that span generations so we can see where they started and how the tree branches grow. How two very different paths lead to two very different outcomes.
I would encourage you to try this one. You will learn a lot about African history and American slavery that you might not have learned otherwise.
Contrasting chapters about half sisters and their family brought a historical perspective to the Africa to America in an informative and original approach with many well researched events not generally known.
I wanted to love this book but rather than love I feel disappointment. The description was promising but 30 pages in I was lost and not really “into it”. As the book continued there were too many characters being introduced that I totally lost track who was who and how they all were related. Each person’s story was kept separate and in my opinion very much disconnected. With so many characters I think it would have been beneficial to have a family tree someone in the book to reference back while progressing with the book.
The only reason why I finished it was because this was my suggestion for my book club’s August read so I felt obligated to read it.
I gave it 3 stars only because the second half of the book was actually interesting.
Beautifully detailed, packed with everyday heroines and heros. Lovely ending.
This outstanding novel follows the lives of several generations of one family with roots in 18th century Ghana. A readable blend of great fiction and historical fact.
Loved that it spanned many years
Very well written. Great human story. Became engaged with each character immediately because if her writing style and ability to draw you in.
Recommend!!!