Homegoing

Books | Fiction / African American & Black / Historical

4.4

(5.1K)

Yaa Gyasi

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE • WINNER OF THE PEN / HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION • 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, 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.

Historical Fiction

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More Details:

Author

Yaa Gyasi

Pages

320

Publisher

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Published Date

2016-06-07

ISBN

1101947144 9781101947142

Ratings

Google: 4.5

Community ReviewsSee all

"Tracing the stories of a family through 8 generations, the two branches of the family get different starts that lead one branch in the slave trade to America and the other through British colonialism in Ghana. Such an epic sweep with memorable characters that each has their own short story tied to the wider backdrop of historical narrative, culture and ancestry. "

Jackie Davidson

"I finished this book with chills. This book is absolutely perfect. "

CaitVD

"I read this book because it has won several awards and recommendations. It’s a collection of short stories about the descendants of two half sisters from the Gold Coast of Africa, later called Ghana. One sister stayed in Africa having been married off to a British soldier, the other sister was captured and shipped off to America on slave ship. Each story is loosely tied to the story prior. I found it difficult to follow. I just started to like a character when their story stopped and a different story started with mostly all new characters. "

Merry

"🌕🌕🌕🌕"

Abby

"This was an incredible story, and so well written. "

Olivia Huie

"8/10, loved the generations and different POV’s in these stories. Wasn’t a quick read for me, but it made me appreciate it that much more"

Emily G.

"OMG. best book i’ve read in a while!! there is so much potential analysis for this book. it is a great high school read, it’s fast paced and pulls you in immediately. i loved it! "

Kayley R.

"Just reading and it so nice!! I would recommended if you want to read a nice black ppl book with white men and forge in languages!(dw they js say they speak it but they put it in English) so nice basically short stories also it has some “scenes” that include s*x but it’s very short and quick so the story doesn’t revolve around it"

Jamiyah Langevine

"An awe inspiring saga of two half sisters, whose divergent paths in life shape the culture, language, opportunity,and identity of their descendants.Homegoing is as compassionate as it is unflinchingly honest, delving into the generational trauma inflicted by colonialism. Each character, along with the passing years, adds another dimension of meaning to the overarching story. The ending is hopeful and ties the characters together in such a beautiful way. This novel should be on everyone’s to read"

Emily

"Homegoing is a very quick novel that packs a huge punch. It follows multiple generations of family members from two family branches that start with half-sisters, one who marries a wealthy white man and one who gets sold into slavery. I was pulled in by every character and could barely put the book down when I needed to. The storytelling is lush with details and no story felt more important than another. Gyasi did an amazing job balancing so many characters within such few pages. The only small complaint I have is that it was a little hard to follow who was who because there are so many different characters. Luckily, there's a family tree at the beginning of the book that I could flip to, but I wish it was easier to track each person's lineage as you were reading."

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Alyssa Czernek

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