From the Bookshelf of Between the Lines: A Liberation Book Club …

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

Start date: August 17, 2020

Finish date: September 28, 2020

Discussion: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Why we're reading this: Homegoing is an unflinching portrayal of the slave trade explores its impact down the generations, from 1…more
[close] Homegoing is an unflinching portrayal of the slave trade explores its impact down the generations, from 18th-century west Africa to the modern-day US. Slavery is an open wound: it will never heal. As such it has provided an endless reserve of material for storytellers, a bottomless well of tragic arcs, epic betrayals, unexpected dimensions, and uncharted secrets. Homegoing shares this story of intergenerational slavery trauma by exploring the matriarch. She shares a story from her home and makes it accessible to the broader audience. Lets dive into the book head first and marvel in this important story and the storytelling of a powerful Black Femme author.

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What Members Thought

May 31, 2020 Aya Obeid rated it really liked it

This book struck me as a bit of a combination of "The Glory Field" and "Things Fall Apart," but it was still masterfully done in its own right, discussing a very wide variety of important themes. sometimes it felt as though Gyasi worked to incorporate too many topics and issues, but it allowed the characters to come alive in a very real way. I enjoyed the mentions of the laws and the politics in very raw ways while playing out the effects of them vividly. The book powerfully illustrated the way ...more

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Oct 27, 2021 Yassmin rated it really liked it

bold and remarkable debut. I found myself faltering a little during the read, the many many characters a little difficult to hold in mind for me - who is related to whom, descendant from which line, etc, but pushed through regardless. The focus on the earlier years - the role of Africans on the continent in the slave trade - was particularly compelling.

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Aug 21, 2020 Christiena Mosley rated it it was amazing

This book spoke to my soul in a way that made me both happy and sad, raw and healed, hurt and hopeful. I saw my whole family in this book, even though I have no ancestral knowledge of my own lineage as a Black American, and I saw reasons why in this book.

Yaa is amazing with words and adjectives that place you right in the place of the book that you need to be to get the (dis)connected lines of culture and bloodline. What a staple for any bookshelf!

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