Homegoing

435 pages

English language

Published 2017 by Charnwood.

ISBN:
978-1-4448-3425-3
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OCLC Number:
1083737557

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5 stars (2 reviews)

In eighteenth-century Ghana, two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages. Effia is eventually married to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to her, ESi is imprisoned beneath in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and then shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. The consequences of the sisters' fates reverberate through the generations that follow, From the Gold Coast to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, this is the story of how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation. --back cover

27 editions

reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

I feel like this is a must-read for everyone.

5 stars

This book is HEAVY. Would not recommend picking this one up if you are in an emotional state at all because this will rip you apart. Gyasi does an amazing job with writing about the Black experiences throughout history. You're following a family line through multiple generations from the beginning of slaves being sold off to the white men.

While this is a very heavy book on the emotions, it is not just trauma on display. There are a lot of heartfelt, joyful moments between family members and an underlying vein of hopefulness that you'll be able to see the family break out of the literal and metaphorical chains that they were placed in. The ending of the book was perfect and made me smile.

Cannot recommend this enough. Read this book!

avatar for kerry

rated it

5 stars