Homegoing
Fiction
Knopf Publishing Group
June 7, 2016
Hardcover
320
Publisher via BEA
"Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonial, and will live in comfort in the sprawling, palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising half-caste children who will be sent abroad to be educated in England before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the Empire. Her sister, Esi, will be imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle's women's dungeon, and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she will be sold into slavery. Stretching from the tribal wars of Ghana to slavery and Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the north to the Great Migration to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi's has written a modern masterpiece, a novel that moves through histories and geographies and--with outstanding economy and force--captures the troubled spirit of our own nation"--
My review:
4.5 stars
A powerful story about half sisters whose paths veer from birth in very different directions. The book begins in Ghana, where we follow the generations of one of the sisters throughout most of the book. At the same time (in alternate chapters) is the generational story of the other sister, whose family ends up in America. Spectacular writing makes this a must read! It is tough to get through at times, as it is brutally honest about such things as the slave trade, coal mining, the ravages of tribal wars, mental illness, and drug addiction. Even though we only spend a chapter with each generation, the characters are drawn so well that one is completely captivated by each of their stories, and you feel as if you are a witness to their lives. I wish we could have kept going with some of their lives in more detail. The only minor complaint that I have is that I was disappointed in one aspect of the ending, I felt that it was too contrived to have been believable. A minor distraction from an otherwise epic novel!
I listened to this on audio, and while I loved the narration, I was very glad that I had a hardcover book to refer to the family tree at the beginning. It would have been more difficult to figure out who was part of which family at least until I understood the back and forth plot of the story.
While not what I would call an uplifting novel, this one is a must read for the quality of the writing and the gutsy story it tells of the past. Amazing debut novel from a writer I hope to hear much more from in the future.
