Homegoing Reviews

From Goodreads: a 5 star review.

Stunned, just absolutely stunned that this is a début novel. Spanning centuries and continents, the novel follows two families, one from the slave trading Fante nation and another from the Asante warrior nation, in the British colony that is now Ghana. Stepsisters, who are unaware of each other's existence, one will marry a white man, a British official who lives in the upper part of the Cape Coast Castle. The other, in the lower dungeons of the same castle and sold as a slave, transported to the American South.

Any book about slavery is going to be hard to read and this book is no exception. In alternating chapters, we go from Africa, to the south, and follow the descendants of the two women. We see what happens in Africa, the effects of the British Colonization and internal warfare. The South, slavery and then quasi freedom but under Jim Crow laws. South Carolina and its eugenic program. Rather than reading as a novel it is almost like portraits, snapshots of the lingering effects of slavery. Characters change often, each chapter narrated by another though some overlap, this took some getting used to but each character was important, each character I took to heart. The writing is fantastic, the imagery of fire and water following the different family lines.

Needless to say there is not a lot of joy within, but there are occasional glimpses. The novel does end on a surge of hope and another fantastic visual. I cannot wait to see what this young, already accomplished author will tackle next.

And another from Goodreads:

There are sometimes when you read a book, you finish it, close the book, and think to yourself, that was good. Then, you simply and immediately pick up your next book and dive right in. Not giving that original book another thought. Then, there are those rare occasions where you read a book, finish it, simply close the book, and sit there stunned. You think to yourself, what the heck do I read next, knowing the next book will not compare. Knowing you can't get that original book out of your head and for days after finishing, that is all you think about. This is one of those rare occasions for me.

Homegoing tells the story of two half sisters, Effia and Esi. Born to different villages, who grow up in different circumstances, and have *very* different lives. The book tells the story of many of their descendants covering over 300 years. It goes into great detail of slavery in the 18th century, how slaves were captured, and sold, and brought to America, used in mines, moving from Ghana to the South (Alabama) and to New York. There is so much tragedy on both sides of these families.

Each chapter is a story of one the girls descendants, alternating between Effia and Esi's sides of the family. There are a lot of characters in the book and at times, it can be difficult to keep track of who is who. The book includes a family tree which makes it easier to keep track of them. Not every characters story is cleanly wrapped up and some character you learn more about what happens to them in their children or grandchildren's story. Some, you just don't know. And to me, this all added to the overall story. Perhaps some people might not like that and want each story neatly wrapped up.

Homegoing is not an easy read. Often times, it's brutal in its depictions of what happened to these characters/people. I found myself thinking at times, did that really happen in our history, and it is quite sad to think, yes, it did. I think perhaps I should feed bad that I enjoyed (is that the right word) reading this book when it deals with such horrible atrocities. But I feel that I learned so much about this time in our history, even though this is fiction. It makes me sad to know this did happen. I'm also very shocked that the author is 26 and grew up in Hunstville, Alabama. To write a book so vivid on descriptions of Ghana and slavery and this epic saga over many years......I have no words. Congrats to Yaa Gyasi and I look forward to see what you give us next.

I listened to this book via audio and the narrator was perfect. His voice, tone, and sometimes accent added to the overall experience of the book. I would highly suggest to pick up the audio but also, using the family tree of descendants to keep track of everyone.

This is so far my best of 2016, a favorite, and one I would read again in the future. And I plan to read it next time.