Homegoing is an epic family tale, following two branches of a family tree from 1700s through today. The family started in what is today Ghana. The book begins with two sisters. They live in different villages and do not know they are sisters. One, Effia, marries a British man and lives in the castle that controls the slave trade in the region. The other, Esi, is captured during a battle between two tribes and is sold to the British and send to the United States.
Each chapter is a new person in the line, alternating between the progeny of Effia and Esi, through all of the changes in Ghana and the United States. Gyasi highlights the major themes of African and African American history through personal stories of the characters.
I tend to like family epics. A couple of examples are The Night Counter by Alia Yunis and Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. What Gyasi adds is a greater sense of how the social and political changes effect each generation and build on what that generation learned from the last.
If you have not yet read this, buy a copy TODAY! You will be drawn in by it. With each chapter you will fall in love with the next character while wanting more of the previous one (which you will get in many cases through the stories of their children). This book will live with you long after you finish it. I have read four books since this and still find myself thinking about it every couple of days.
Homegoing is on my list of best books I have ever read. I will always be grateful to my local bookstore for putting it on display.
Gyasi, Yaa. (2016). Homegoing. New York: Vintage Books.
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