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Black Gold of the Sun: Searching for Home in Africa and Beyond
At the age of thirty-three, Ekow Eshun—born in London to African-born parents—travels to Ghana in search of his roots. He goes from Accra, Ghana’s cosmopolitan capital city, to the storied slave forts of Elmina, and on to the historic warrior kingdom of Asante. During his journey, Eshun uncovers a long-held secret about his lineage that will compel him to question everything he knows about himself and where he comes from. From the London suburbs of his childhood to the twenty-first century African metropolis, Eshun’s is a moving chronicle of one man’s search for home, and of the pleasures and pitfalls of fashioning an identity in these vibrant contemporary worlds.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 10, 2009
This book was all over the place but it still managed to be good and resonant for me. Not just because I have Ghanaian parentage and grew up in The West, but also because I have struggled with questions of race, culture, language, and belonging as a human being. This story is at times deeply depressing, laugh-out-loud funny, confusing, and heartbreaking but there are enough profound moments and exceedingly important revelations that I am wildly recommending that everyone read it. It is a story about the illusion of belonging, the myth of clear origins, and reveals that being a part of something is ultimately more about giving yourself unto it, rather than waiting for it to swallow you up.
I hope Ekow Eshun will sharpen his writing chops, clarify his voice, and give the world another book in the years to come.
I hope Ekow Eshun will sharpen his writing chops, clarify his voice, and give the world another book in the years to come.
September 29, 2012
I'm still gathering my thoughts on this one but I mostly didn't care for his style of writing. This is the first memoir I've read where I kept wondering if the incidents really went down as he says they did. This is not because they are strange events but because of the style in which he wrote about them. I also think he included too much (his brother's book, Chris Ofili, etc.) and tried too hard to show connections between experiences and thoughts. Very little subtlety.
I did enjoy the colonial history he included. It's clear that he did an incredible amount of research for this.
I did enjoy the colonial history he included. It's clear that he did an incredible amount of research for this.
July 31, 2011
I didn't get into this. Found it scattered and disconnected. It has some interesting parts, particularly of growing up in London and feeling alienated and isolated. But I found the return to Africa simplistic and cliché ridden
December 23, 2022
Ekow Eshun's done well for himself. Director (past) of the Institute of Creative Arts and frequent TV appearances as a critic on Newsnight Review. I picked this up drawn in by the promise on the front cover of 'Illustrations by Chris Ofili'. Well, there weren't many illustrations - a couple of maps and chapter heading doodles. But the text really began to grate on me. Yet more middle class bollocks from someone with a high power job and salary and more time and money on their hands than they knew what to do with - so of course they believe that they should write the book they feel they have in them. Privilege.
Granted this is not a novel. It is more of a right of passage book that Eshun went through by returning to Ghana and telling his story, feeling neither British nor, on his return to Ghana, Ghanaian. This is a long long whine which develops as Eshun defines and explores his own family history, the big kick in the baws being finding out that his ancestors had sold their own countryman to slavers, and thus seeing himself as complicit within the promulgation of the slave trade.
How naive and whiney IS this guy? And boy can he be a whiner. Neither British or Ghanaian, in fact not even seeing himself as part of the Black British experience of community not having arrived from or have connection to the Caribbean diaspora and at the same time possessing the arrogance of white, educated middle class liberal consciousness.
It could be worse mate. You could be Angolan from Luanda, or white Nigerian where you're told that if you're going outside the compound you will get killed.
Granted this is not a novel. It is more of a right of passage book that Eshun went through by returning to Ghana and telling his story, feeling neither British nor, on his return to Ghana, Ghanaian. This is a long long whine which develops as Eshun defines and explores his own family history, the big kick in the baws being finding out that his ancestors had sold their own countryman to slavers, and thus seeing himself as complicit within the promulgation of the slave trade.
How naive and whiney IS this guy? And boy can he be a whiner. Neither British or Ghanaian, in fact not even seeing himself as part of the Black British experience of community not having arrived from or have connection to the Caribbean diaspora and at the same time possessing the arrogance of white, educated middle class liberal consciousness.
It could be worse mate. You could be Angolan from Luanda, or white Nigerian where you're told that if you're going outside the compound you will get killed.
August 22, 2025
rounded up from 3.5 - this had mixed reviews but I enjoyed it, especially as I don't usually love a memoir.
September 24, 2016
The first half of this book started off with such potential that I was recommending it left right and centre but as I went on with it, and it isn't very long, it ended up being a disappointment. The author made some extremely interesting, relatable and thought provoking points and observations particularly about racism and identity. His descriptions of Ghana and the people he encountered there were spot on and I thought it amazing just how similar Africans are no matter which country we are from, which did made me laugh. Unfortunately the author was also a little bit of a whinger, which I soon found slightly annoying but some people may find this depressing.
Overall something was very much off. The author frequently spoke of his childhood but many of his recollections were just not believable. For example, he was five when he left Ghana and yet he spoke of being at school in Ghana and having to write essays as punishment on a set topic. Unless he was a child genius of epic proportions he certainly wasn't writing essays at four years old. His memories were too clear, he couldn't possibly have been that observant as a toddler - and remember it all.
The book flits from one time and topic to another (and sometimes back again several times); he possibly tried to cover too much. He came across a little chaotic in personality and this also came through in the writing as the book progressed.
Overall something was very much off. The author frequently spoke of his childhood but many of his recollections were just not believable. For example, he was five when he left Ghana and yet he spoke of being at school in Ghana and having to write essays as punishment on a set topic. Unless he was a child genius of epic proportions he certainly wasn't writing essays at four years old. His memories were too clear, he couldn't possibly have been that observant as a toddler - and remember it all.
The book flits from one time and topic to another (and sometimes back again several times); he possibly tried to cover too much. He came across a little chaotic in personality and this also came through in the writing as the book progressed.
September 20, 2010
Just a quick one.
This is an enjoyable read -- I think it's at its best when it reads a little bit more like a travel journal of the author's quest to find a sense of belonging by venturing to Ghana. When it becomes all Late Night Review, it's slightly irritating; the 'recalcitrant wheels' of a suitcase and the like might drive you a bit nuts.
But when he gets to the truth -- that nothing in Ghana is as he expected it to be, and that the idea of belonging is so often coloured by a sense of what you think a place or people will be like, not what they actually are -- it's more effective. Sorry, that's all rather garbled, but there's plenty there about black people in the UK wishing to be African, Africans in the UK wishing they were West Indian, Ghanaians trying to be American and so on and so on. That's where it's most interesting.
That is all.
This is an enjoyable read -- I think it's at its best when it reads a little bit more like a travel journal of the author's quest to find a sense of belonging by venturing to Ghana. When it becomes all Late Night Review, it's slightly irritating; the 'recalcitrant wheels' of a suitcase and the like might drive you a bit nuts.
But when he gets to the truth -- that nothing in Ghana is as he expected it to be, and that the idea of belonging is so often coloured by a sense of what you think a place or people will be like, not what they actually are -- it's more effective. Sorry, that's all rather garbled, but there's plenty there about black people in the UK wishing to be African, Africans in the UK wishing they were West Indian, Ghanaians trying to be American and so on and so on. That's where it's most interesting.
That is all.
December 31, 2013
First, a caveat. I read this book disjointedly over the course of several months, so my impressions may be more a symptom of that than anything else. I enjoyed this quick dive into Ghanaian culture while learning about the struggles the author has encountered in his life. Individual tidbits in the book were quite fascinating, and it was a very easy style of writing to follow. At the same time, the anecdotes were often too short to really be able to connect the threads all the way through. Some items kept returning throughout the book and others would never show up again, but there was never a way to anticipate which pieces were going to turn out to be important.
March 22, 2008
I just finished reading this memoir and loved it!!!
A story of a young man growing up in London with Ghanaian parents and his struggle to find his place in culture, this leads him back to Ghana to a place he hasn't been since he was a small child. Things are different here now and as he traces his family roots he discovers some unsettling news. His takes on racism in London in the 70s and how the Coup of Ghana affected his family 1000's of miles away. A very intimate and personal account of one mans internal struggle with himself and his environment.
A story of a young man growing up in London with Ghanaian parents and his struggle to find his place in culture, this leads him back to Ghana to a place he hasn't been since he was a small child. Things are different here now and as he traces his family roots he discovers some unsettling news. His takes on racism in London in the 70s and how the Coup of Ghana affected his family 1000's of miles away. A very intimate and personal account of one mans internal struggle with himself and his environment.
January 12, 2013
I think that this was an interesting book! Ekow, though born in England, travels to his original birthplace, Ghana in order to rediscover his childhood and to come to terms with his life. It is a frank exposition of his family and the historical origins of his mother's family going all the way back to slavery.
He shares some of his struggles in adjusting to different attitudes and lifestyles in Ghana. On the other hand, he is able to view how western lifestyles have influenced the youth which he recognises as similar to what one would witness in the UK.
He shares some of his struggles in adjusting to different attitudes and lifestyles in Ghana. On the other hand, he is able to view how western lifestyles have influenced the youth which he recognises as similar to what one would witness in the UK.
August 4, 2021
A good memoir about the complexity of identity and belonging from a black diasporic perspective. I could really relate to this, I am of Nigerian parentage but was born in the UK and walk that tightrope of duality of my two cultures. Not fully accepted as British but not fully accepted as Nigerian either. Love the historic nuggets of Ghanaian history and descriptive language of his time in Ghana. A star gets knocked off because it did give off a bit of a "woe is me" vibe in parts. Worth a read though, very interesting.
October 17, 2013
Disappointed overall with this book, though it was interesting in parts. It was just the way he talked about certain things, or talking about how he thought as a young child about the other children that did not seen realistic. He seemed to be making his younger self more conscious and enlightened than it seems is possible. It grated and seemed arrogant on the part of the writer.
It was interesting to read about growing up black in Britain. He could have gone into this much more deeply.
It was interesting to read about growing up black in Britain. He could have gone into this much more deeply.
January 16, 2010
I guess you could call this book an autobiography. It is a good book and I loved it. It kept me reading more because I wanted to learn about him. Black Gold of The Sun is a best seller. It could also be a biography. Ekow Eshun is a talented and gifted writer. It is my favorite book of him and hope it's not his last book.
December 11, 2012
I just love the writing style of Ekow Eshun in this book. British, I grew up with his journalism and he definitely polished with age. This book is sheer escapism, not into fantasy but a thoughtful, multi-cultural travel memoir. Descriptions of Ghana are alive, I feel as if I've been and met all these colourful characters, particularly his father. Am intrigued to find how it will end...
April 19, 2019
I liked the way the narrative crossed between Ghana and the UK
I also enjoyed learning about key figures in recent Ghanaian history.
The story resonated with me as there were references made to people I personally know.
The autobiography could have gone for a bit longer.
For the Pop Sugar challenge, this is a book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter
I also enjoyed learning about key figures in recent Ghanaian history.
The story resonated with me as there were references made to people I personally know.
The autobiography could have gone for a bit longer.
For the Pop Sugar challenge, this is a book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter
August 7, 2011
Not as good as I thought it would be. He skims the suface of quite a few points and ideas, but isn't thorough about his feelings, travels, history or any of the things he touches on. He could have missed out the trip to Ghana altogether and elaborated on his life as a Black Briton.
December 24, 2013
This book also tackles the "third culture kid" theme, this time as a memoir. Eshun feels he is not white enough for England, not "black" enough for Ghana. And a there is a shameful, deep family secret, too. For more, see International Reads' blog for Ghana.
March 11, 2015
The author reveals his feeling of displacement growing up partly in London and partly in Ghana. A very touching coming of age memoir with fascinating details about the history of Ghana and unwelcome discoveries about his family's history.
March 30, 2008
Memories of a mixed childhood, issues of identity and location of home, racism and the politics of the Diaspora
April 15, 2010
3 1/2 stars
July 30, 2013
Enjoyed participating in the author's thought process as he traveled through the country of his family's origin and early childhood. I would have liked to hear more perspective after his return.
October 20, 2016
Loved this but felt like the points were heavy-handed. It's a beautiful autobiography.
Want to read
September 29, 2007the author is speaking to the Anthropology Society in November...
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews