Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

 

I've had the paperback edition of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi sitting in my 'to be read' pile since 2018. I've been meaning to read this novel sooner than I have as it has garnered a lot of positive attention and accolades since its publication.

However, it wasn't until this month that I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and narrated by Dominic Hoffman. Listening time for Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is 13 hours, 11 minutes.

As a quick side note, I'm listening to more books this year instead of reading them to help curb eye strain/fatigue.

I loved the concept of Homegoing. I enjoyed how the author presented the story of two half sisters (Effia and Esi) and how their lives are drastically different based on the slave trade in Ghana. Effia is married off to a powerful Englishman and lives a life of relative luxury compared to her half sister, Esi, who is sold into slavery and shipped to America. 

We, as readers, learn about the divergent lives that both Effia and Esi live, as well as those of their descendants over the centuries in alternating chapters. It was very enlightening to read about the slave trade in Ghana and also learn about the local customs of the different tribes in Ghana. 

I thought it was interesting to learn that slavery in Ghana predated the Atlantic slave trade and how Ghanian tribes contributed to the Atlantic slave trade itself. By learning about this bit of history, we read how it impacted future generations in both Ghana and America... More specifically, how it impacted cultural identity. For instance, one of the characters in the novel questions what it means to be 'black' in America.

Overall, I'm impressed with Yaa Gyasi's writing style and how she tackles several large topics/themes to make a very cohesive read. How she writes such a short, concise, and succinct novel that states so much, is simply amazing to me. 

However, as much as I liked Homegoing, I didn't love it as much as I expected or hoped I would from all the hype surrounding this novel when it was first released.

Below is the publisher's summary for Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi from Chirp's website:

The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day. Effia and Esi are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

I discovered the following short video interview with Yaa Gyasi on YouTube put out by Penguin Books UK. The author discusses her novel, Homegoing. 

I am giving Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!