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A review by leahtylerthewriter
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
5.0
"If we go to the white man for school, we will just learn the way the white man wants us to learn."
Two separated sisters in 18th century Ghana, Effia and Esi, follow two very different paths. One marries a British slave trader and the other is sold into slavery and shipped to America. Homegoing tells the story of their descendants.
A multigenerational family saga about a culture that is not my own. Yes, please! Gyasi's debut is the kind of book I love best. Painful, educational, rich, and raw, this story about seven generations of Ghanaians following two female lines, one in Ghana and the other in America, is more a collection of interconnected short stories following a linear path.
Once we enter modern times and people start living long enough to interact with their adult children, we experience two (or more) generations in one story. Man, that took some time. Evocative and heart wrenching, I was gripped waiting to see the fate of the next generation and how it was influenced by the previous. And the way Homegoing came together in the end was heartwarming.
Gyasi's point of view is an important perspective shedding light on a multitude of injustices committed against humanity. And the enduring hope of survival. No easy answers or simple directions to point blame, I put this down as one on my top 2020 reads.
Two separated sisters in 18th century Ghana, Effia and Esi, follow two very different paths. One marries a British slave trader and the other is sold into slavery and shipped to America. Homegoing tells the story of their descendants.
A multigenerational family saga about a culture that is not my own. Yes, please! Gyasi's debut is the kind of book I love best. Painful, educational, rich, and raw, this story about seven generations of Ghanaians following two female lines, one in Ghana and the other in America, is more a collection of interconnected short stories following a linear path.
Once we enter modern times and people start living long enough to interact with their adult children, we experience two (or more) generations in one story. Man, that took some time. Evocative and heart wrenching, I was gripped waiting to see the fate of the next generation and how it was influenced by the previous. And the way Homegoing came together in the end was heartwarming.
Gyasi's point of view is an important perspective shedding light on a multitude of injustices committed against humanity. And the enduring hope of survival. No easy answers or simple directions to point blame, I put this down as one on my top 2020 reads.