Homegoing

A young woman caught up in the 1700's slave trade of what is now Ghana has two daughters who never knew each other. One of them is shipped overseas to become a slave on an American plantation. The other one marries a British colonial officer and lives a life of relative ease. This novel follows the women's descendants through modern times as they struggle with the corrupt systems that upheld slavery and perpetuate injustice and suffering long after slavery itself is no longer practiced.

Yaa Gyasi keeps the story moving, stopping to tell a story about each generation on their own side of the Atlantic. If I have a complaint about this book, it's that I wanted more from each of those generational check-ins. I wanted to spend more time with those people. It felt like this could have been a beloved book series, with an eagerly awaited last installment with the present generation. As it is, the final modern day story felt a little bit rushed to me. But it's a deep story, and a beautifully written family epic. Highly recommend.

I will never walk a mile or even one step in their shoes. I'll never feel a whip shredding my flesh; never be condemned to hard labor in a coal mine or fear being abducted into such a life. I have, I suspect, had job applications tossed out because of my name but I've never had entire career possibilities closed off. I've never been hauled to prison for smoking a joint while nearby anglos, doing the same, look on. This is privilege, and it makes my reading experience both uncomfortable and so rewarding.

Damn, what a book. Gyasi offers a visceral feel for the crushing inescapable suffering of one subset of humanity at the hands of another subset. It's impossible for most of us to really feel what those lives were like, but Gyasi lets us come close to imagining it. The book follows two parallel timelines, the (mostly mis)fortunes of two Ghanaian sisters and their progeny across two centuries: one sister taken—involuntarily, and you know what I mean—to the American colonies, the other remaining in Ghana; each one, and each descendant, suffering cruelties we just can't really fathom. The glimpses Gyasi coolly gives us are stomach-turning, often more so because we know we will never in our armchair lives feel anything close to those horrors, and certainly not every day for the entire duration of our lives. My privilege humbles me.

The suffering isn't just in the West: none of the characters in the Ghana storyline leads a charmed life either. The evils, though, are different in scope and kind and scale and intention; theirs are by and large the everyday ills of humankind. The contrast with the lives of those in the US is stark and sobering. I could go on at great length, but have already blathered too much. Beautiful language, deeply moving stories, perspectives that may stay with you. Just read it.

One recommendation: read it in hardcopy, not ebook or audio. There's a family tree diagram in the front that is invaluable; I flipped back to it at least once per chapter, sometimes more.

One sentence synopsis... This book follows two half-sisters separated from birth in 18th century Ghana, alternating each chapter to tell the story of a different descendant of each sister. .

Read it If you like... short stories. Despite continuing themes of colonialism and slavery, read all together they felt like a collection of short stories rather than a wholly realized plot. Still enjoyable but about halfway through the stories lose their momentum and become a series of emotionally distressing vingnettes. .

Further reading... for a better version of the many-alternating-narrators book: try ‘There, There'. For a better version of the American-racism-shaping-families: try ‘An American Marriage'. For a better version of family-followed-across-generations: try ‘Pachinko'. It's not that ‘Homegoing' is bad, it's just not as good as other books about the same ideas.

(i had a fever today so i could read and absorb info, but writing... eh rip)

the fact that this book isn't longer makes me sad because i am so hooked on yaa gyasi's storytelling abilities y'all

even more moving were the themes that we see that get passed down and evolve with every generation and how strong the trauma is towards the younger generations. while i adored each vignette of life, the last few were really beautiful and drove home so much that was brought up throughout the book

i'm so glad i also picked up a copy of transcendent kingdom as i can't wait to read more of yaa gyasi's writing!!!

This book isn't usually something I'd pick up on my own but did anyway because it was a friend's recommendation for a book club (thanks, Denise!) and wow, am I glad I did it. What an engaging, moving, and eye-opening novel. Without being too draggy or gratuitously depressing, without being too one-sided as well, this book manages to really shed light on the cultural trauma that have faced generations of African immigrants, which continues today in the systemic racism that they face - this novel focuses on America in its second half, as the author speaks from her own experience being a first-generation Ghanaian immigrant herself.

The story starts in the 1700s with two half-sisters who are oblivious to the other's existence. One is married off to a British governor, while the other is sold into slavery. We then follow generations of their descendants through the ages, as they navigate the politics of African colonial rule on one side, and the politics of being slaves or having once been slaves in America.

“No one forgets that they were once captive, even if they are now free.”

with

“Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth?”

agency

“It'll be the white man's word against no word at all.”

Overall, totally wonderful. But with so many generations and so many characters, I found it difficult to connect emotionally with parts of the story (mostly because I was trying to remember who was who's parent). This is not a book you can put down and come back to later; for maximum enjoyment I recommend reading it as fast as possible.

Yaa Gyasi's epic debut begins with the stories of two half-sisters in Ghana, or the Gold Coast as it was then, in the 1700s, one married off to a white British officer, the other enslaved and shipped to America. The structure of this novel almost makes it read like a collection of short stories, with chapters moving swiftly forward through the generations of the branching family and alternating between the two separate family lines. Gyasi's writing is incredible and so evocative that it's often difficult to read. That aside, this is a must-read for the year and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I genearally don't read sweeping multi-generational novels. But I heard so many good things about this one that I just had to read this one. I'm glad I did. I really liked the amount of time we spent with each generation.
This is a heavy novel. The pain and joy, but mostly pain, is a heavy collective weight. I must say that I don't really want to carry it all. But the fact that I have the option to carry the weight or not carry it is the reason I needed to read this book and carry the weight.

This book sat on my shelf for far too long waiting for me to appreciate it, so I need to write this review to let you readers know to pick it up immediately.

This is a close up study of the lineage of a family split down the bloodlines of two sisters. So in every second chapter we are going to the next generation and we read a chapter from a member of that generation from each of the sisters bloodlines. This choice made what could have been a very slow book feel lightning fast and gripping.

Gyasi is writing an intimate character study, but not of one person. In Homecoming, the family is the character. I adored this book so much for the characters. They were so real and the emotions in this book (especially towards the end) were really effective because of how closely you are tied to the characters. The story arc is for the family, and when we hit that final chapter and got some emotional resolution I was welling up. It has been a while since a book made me slow down, deliberately savour the story being told and experience every emotion with our characters.

I highly recommend this book. I am so incredibly excited for the new release coming from Gyasi. If you're like me and have had Homegoing sitting unread on your shelf for a few years, prioritise it. It's going to be worth it.

I am so impressed by the solid structure and fantastic character development within this novel. This book is an intricate look at individual members of two half sister's family trees and how their individual stories lead to travel across Africa, America and across communities. I can only applaud Yaa Gyasi for creating characters that have strong individual stories while also allowing these characters to play a part in the wider narrative. Each character and each individual story was written beautifully and emotively so that each new focused chapter, you were still able to connect with new characters. I really liked the ending when Marcus and Marjorie reconnected back with their African roots and with each other. I think it was a subtlety satisfying ending to a fantastically constructed narrative. A strong 4 and a half star read for me!!