Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is an emotionally powerful epic novel that follows the fates of two half-sisters’ families over 250 years in western Africa and America. Beginning in the mid-1700s, we see the British arrive and begin enslaving Africans. Effia marries a white British Officer, and lives in luxury a few stories above where many of her former Asante tribe members are being held as human cargo. Among them is Esi, her half-sister, who is sent to America to be sold into slavery.

The story narration alternates between their descendants, thos who stayed in what is now Ghana, and those who are in America. With each new chapter we meet a new descendant, and we see the epic sweep of history’s impact -- from the middle passage through the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, and up to the present day.

As a reader, we see the characters across generations and continents experiencing much of the same racism and loss as their ancestors.

This is a powerful novel that will resonate and stir your emotions. Homegoing will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it, and will generate thoughtful discussion if you are lucky enough to read this in a lit circle or book club.