Yaa Gyasi

Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself.

Epic in its canvas and intimate in its portraits, Homegoing is a searing and profound debut from a masterly new writer.

Homegoing

Laura Wilson

“You want to know what weakness is? Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves." 

You can learn anything when you have to learn it. You could learn to fly if it meant you would live another day.

Tiana Coates

Then next time bring more water, but don’t cry for this time. There should be no room in your life for regret. If in the moment of doing you felt clarity, you felt certainty, then why feel regret later?

A lioness. She mates with her lion and he thinks the moment is about him when it is really about her, her children, her posterity. Her trick is to make him think that he is king of the bush, but what does a king matter? Really, she is king and queen and everything in between.

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, 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.

sage lynn

It's not just because I'm scared of drowning. Though I guess I am. It's because of all that space. It's because everywhere I look, I see blue, and I have no idea where it begins. When I'm out there, I stay as close as I can to the sand, because at least then I know where it ends.

How could he explain to Marjorie that what he wanted to capture with his project was the feeling of time, of having been a part of something that stretched so far back, was impossibly large, that it was easy to forget that she, and he, and everyone else, existed in it--not apart from it, but inside of it.

Marcus thought about that day often. He was still amazed by it. Not by the fear he'd felt throughout the day, when the woman who was no more than a stranger to him had dragged him farther and farther from home, but by the fullness of love and protection he'd felt later, when his family had finally found him. Not the being lost, but the being found. It was the same feeling he got whenever he saw Marjorie. Like she had somehow, found him.

And Esi knew, too, that her mother would die rather than run into the woods ever again, die before capture, die even if it meant that in her dying, Esi would inherit that unspeakable sense of loss, learn what it meant to be un-whole.

“Love her,” Cobbe commanded, as though love were as simple an act as lifting food up from an iron plate and past one’s lips.

Hell was a place of remembering, each beautiful moment passed through the mind’s eye until it fell to the ground like a rotten mango, perfectly useless, uselessly perfect.

Muhamad Omarji

A great story of racism through the centuries, tracing a family that branches out in two storylines: one participating in the slavery and escaping it on the African continent, the other being slaved and coming free in the US. Would love to read more, sad that the book is finished.

Robert Katzki

i did not think i was gonna finish this at first LOL, reminded me so much of half of a yellow sun. it was tough, it was beautiful, it was haunting, and it made me miss nigeria in a way i haven't in a long time! the past is definitely closer than we think.

Janet Akisanmi

Allison Dempsey

I really wanted to like this, but the format of it ended up being too much. Each chapter ended up being a short story with very minor connections to the chapter before it, and there really was not enough time for proper character development.

Dominic Hoffman

Marcy Pursell 

This was a slow book for me, but I liked it. I absolutely loved the ending, and you understand the way the story gets weaved from beginning to end, really full circle, with points of view switching from generation to generation. It was well written, and well narrated. The narrator had an African accent in the earlier POVs, and as the later generations were American, the accents changed and developed.

Kendall McClain

Ava Luke

azliana aziz

yaa gyasi is a gifted writer. 
what is really striking in HOMEGOING for me is how she effortlessly write multi perspectives and giving distinct, lived in voices to each of her characters. reading this book made me understand so much more about black rage and how every little things we did or did not get involved in it will still affect us and everyone else too. those ripple effects can be damaging whether we want/acknowledge of it.


Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself.
 
Epic in its canvas and intimate in its portraits, Homegoing is a searing and profound debut from a masterly new writer.

hileahrious

Lila R E

if you need a reason to hate white people this book will be it. 

otherwise a masterpiece, could not recommend enough.

Desiree Young

This book is exactly what I needed right now !!!

I cannot believe this book was only 300 pages and managed to accomplish so much. Not a single word is wasted, and it feels like a book I could reread again and again to pick apart all the little details and symbolism that the author included. There are no less than 14 POV characters in this book and every single one feels like a distinct, fully realized person. I loved seeing how each generation of characters built upon the last and served as a snapshot of their own time period. 

I’m having to hold myself back from writing a full essay about this book, so I’ll just say: it’s absolutely worth the read.

Cloudface

I cannot believe this book was only 300 pages and managed to accomplish so much. Not a single word is wasted, and it feels like a book I could reread again and again to pick apart all the little details and symbolism that the author included. There are no less than 14 POV characters in this book and every single one feels like a distinct, fully realized person. I loved seeing how each generation of characters built upon the last and served as a snapshot of their own time period. 
I’m having to hold myself back from writing a full essay about this book, so I’ll just say: it’s absolutely worth the read.

Reyna Mendoza

A new favorite! Takes you on an incredible journey.

Expertly written, an all encompassing fast paced read. It's fascinating to watch two sisters' bloodlines dovetail throughout history.

Katelyn Caillouet

Beatrice

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

By far one of the best books I've read this year, Homegoing's wide praise is definitely well deserved. This book follows the story of two half sisters, Effia and Esi, who will never meet and will live lives at their opposites: Esi becomes a spoil of war during long-standing tribal disputes and is eventually sold into slavery; while Effia marries a British governor and slaver and lives her whole life in Ghana. From this starting point, we are slowly drawn into an incredibly well-constructed story, following the descendants of both sisters as the family's history unfolds before our eyes.

I tend to enjoy reading family sagas, mainly due to my love of characters and the fact that we usually get to delve deep into internal dynamics, examine relationships and discover hidden secrets. Lots of drama in families. But this book takes it a step further: we follow these families for the beauty of six descendants each, spanning centuries. That's an incredibly ambitious project, and one that fully hits its target.

I'll admit, I was a bit sceptical at first when I noticed the narrative style: each chapter is narrated by a different descendant, alternating between Effia's and Esi's, and jumping (sometimes substantially) forward in the timeline. I was afraid this would quickly become confusing or leave too many plot holes. I was happily contradicted. Notwithstanding the terrible formatting of my review copy (the beginning and ending of each chapter were never indicated, so I actually had to guess who the next narrator was, and indeed that the previous chapter had ended, from the change in register... oh well, it was an arc after all!), I was never confused and all my doubts and questions were somehow always answered! Even though they had a very limited time at their disposal, characters are all extremely well-rounded and I easily grew attached to them. They are often faced with incredibly difficult situations and live in periods of great social and political turmoil, which of course influences their decisions and their fate.

Speaking of which, I also really enjoyed the historical aspect of the book. Slavery and colonialism are incredibly dark pages of human history, which far too often we prefer to ignore, as if we could forget they ever happened at all. Luckily, writers like Yaa Gyasi are there to remind us that, right up to modern times, we are living with the consequences of the choices that were made so many years ago. I particularly appreciated being able to read about the situation both in the USA and in Ghana: it is rare to read a book that isn't focused solely on a Western perspective of history, and for this Homegoing is even more precious. It seems as if the author took the advice of her own characters:

"We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture."

Overall, Homegoing is an extremely powerful and gripping novel, masterfully combining family, history and social issues tied together by an excellent writing style, leaving you with a book that is over way too quickly, but will likely stay with you for a very long time.

For this and more reviews, visit Book for Thought.

Wynter

Homegoing is a sweeping tale of two family branches coming out of 18th century Ghana and stretching all the way to contemporary America. Steeped in African lore and historical detail, it slowly introduces the reader to each and every member of the family as they experience Ghanian wars, slavery, Civil War, and the roaring 20's. I loved watching the story progress through generations and finally coming together at the shores of Cape Coast. I also listened to parts of the audiobook, and thought that Dominic Hoffman as a narrator really brought the characters and the land to life.

incredible.. an expansive story executed perfectly. Gyasi writes so concisely and vividly, every moment feels necessary and speaks for itself. Just perfect. 

Annie Millman

Colleen

4.5 Stars


  


My best friend is from Ghana. Over the many years of stories and pictures and her mother's groundnut stew, I have absorbed a sort of vicarious love for the country and its cultures. Anyway, I am always on the lookout for books that have to do with Ghana, so of course Homegoing caught my eye as soon as I saw it.

Homegoing is an ambitious family saga that follows the descendants of two half-sisters in Ghana. One sister is sold into slavery and the other remains in Ghana. The story is very character driven with only a slight over-arching plot. Each chapter focuses on one descendant and the chapters alternate between the two lineages. The writing is simple but full of rich historical and cultural detail. Following so many different characters over such a long time period could have easily been messy and unappealing, but Gyasi's writing effortlessly flows through it all. It is particularly impressive for a debut novel.

What I loved about this book was the characters. That was what Gyasi clearly exceled at writing. Although this book has a lot of characters, each one of them was unique and complex. Though the reader only spends a short time with each one, they are so tangibly written that they each come alive after only a few pages. Each character gets only one chapter each (otherwise this book would be incredibly lengthy), but I was instantly absorbed into each of their stories. And I regretted getting to the end of each chapter because I was never ready to leave those characters behind. For some characters, the reader gets glimpses of what happened to the previous generations, but often once their moment in the spotlight has passed little to no knowledge of what became of them would be given. But that fit with the theme of the book: the only things we know about history are those we are told so our "knowledge" of past events is patchy and skewed. And when the story concerns families torn apart it is not surprising that both the characters and the reader would be left wondering.

But even though I was sad to conclude each interlude with characters I had become absorbed with, each time it was followed by a new chapter and a new generation of splendidly written characters to steal my attention away and start the cycle all over again. (Side Note: I did have to refer to the family tree in the front of the book often to remember how characters were related to each other.) So many books I read have flat, predictable, stereotypical characters which made Gyasi's characters even more vibrant. As I mentioned, even in a book with so many characters none of them ever felt repetitive either of other characters in this book or of other books. Each was its own shining gem.

Not to say that the characters themselves were perfect, just expertly written. These were appealingly flawed characters running the complete gambit of personalities and temperaments, of strengths and weaknesses. Homegoing does not romanticize nor villainize but rather sits in the more realistic middle ground inherited by more believable characters. It does not reduce the atrocities of slavery to any overly simple views. Instead it looks at the complexities all the while following the stories of people just trying to survive. The story looks at themes of identity - both of the individual (those trying to discover who they are and how they fit into their family and their world) and of cultural and national identity. There was also a repeated theme of abandoning children whether intentionally or unintentionally (such as through death or slavery). 

The ending was not quite as powerful as I was hoping, but it was still good. I did prefer the first half of the book but the overall story was emotionally moving and unique. This is definitely one of the best books I have read this year, and I greatly look forward to reading more of Gyasi's works!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

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heleen de boever

Such a gorgeous book, with its simple yet elegant structure, riveting pace, erudite historic contextualization and, most notably, complex and varied set of characters. Damn.

Tuago

Incredible to write this as a debut novel at a young age! The book is fascinating as it tells 2 captivating multi-generational stories of the european slave trade. I felt like it connected many dots in my understanding of the slave trade and the experiences of people thereafter.

Ali Angco

5/5. All I can say right now is "Damn, that was good." Full review on the Storygraph.

Katherine Yang

incredible. the amount of research and care and pain and joy contained in this book is unfathomable, i can't even begin to imagine how yaa gyasi managed this endeavour.

Zoe Stricker

Shona Tiger

I had such a hard time with this book! The middle third was *such* a slog. There were too many stories, too many things to hold in my mind. But then, as I got towards the end, I started to get it, and yes, it's a pretty stunning book.

Because how, actually, do you write such a story? Marcus said/thought it perfectly: it's an impossible story to tell, because where does it start? Brilliant.

Anyway, I'm still tempted to give it a 3.5 because it's such a hard read (I'm still miffed); but it's so emotional and such a great effort to explain the impossible, that it's possibly a 4.5, even.

Well worth it.

Homegoing

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