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Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

Start date: February 5, 2023

Finish date: March 1, 2023

Discussion: Country and Territories

Why we're reading this: Countries/Territories = Ghana

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
[close] Countries/Territories = Ghana

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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Country and Territories

A Dangerous Place (March 2023)
By Mariah Roze · 1 post · 7 views

last updated Mar 04, 2023 01:57PM

Homegoing (February 2023)
By Mariah Roze · 3 posts · 18 views

last updated Feb 06, 2023 01:39PM

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What Members Thought

Nov 15, 2016 Puck rated it really liked it

Shelves: people-of-colour, historical-fiction

3,75 stars for this beautiful family-epos, but sadly the story-structure brought things down for me.

Homegoing is a multi-generational family novel that starts in Ghana in the 18th century, and ends in America at our current time. In the meantime we follow the descendants of Effia and Esi, two half-sisters that are born from the same mother, but end up having very different lives. While Effia gets married to a white slave-owner and her children remain in Ghana, Esi gets shipped off to Americ 3,75 stars for this beautiful family-epos, but sadly the story-structure brought things down for me.

Homegoing is a multi-generational family novel that starts in Ghana in the 18th century, and ends in America at our current time. In the meantime we follow the descendants of Effia and Esi, two half-sisters that are born from the same mother, but end up having very different lives. While Effia gets married to a white slave-owner and her children remain in Ghana, Esi gets shipped off to America and sold into slavery, and just like her her offspring has to deal with oppression, hostility and racism.

For a debut novel, this one is incredible. Yaa Gyasi clearly put her heart and soul in writing the stories of these characters, because in the one chapter that each of them get, you really get a good idea of who they are and how they are living. I’m not that familiar with American history, even less with Ghana’s history, but the author did an amazing job bringing all the different times and places alive: the brutal work in the coal mines of Pratt City, the Fante and Asante tribal wars in Ghana, the black population living in the busy streets of Harlem…
Admits these vibrant settings Gyasi’s characters fight for freedom, for love, or independence, and they all have something gritty that makes them special.

"I love my people, James," she said, and his name on her tongue was indescribably sweet. "I am proud to be Asante, as I am sure you are proud to be Fante, but after I lost my brothers, I decided that as for me, Akosua, I will be my own nation.”

Sadly, I couldn’t fall in love with them completely because of how the author structured the story. We only get one chapter in which we meet Kojo, Akua or H. Blackman at the turning point of their lives; this makes our meeting with them impactful, but often I felt the focus of the chapter was on that turning point, not on the character themselves. Especially the chapters taking place in America I felt like Gyasi was ticking off boxes: we have a character who works on the cotton plantations, someone fleeing the Jim Crow laws, a person dealing with the heroin addictions in the sixties, etc.

Don’t get me wrong: these events are certainly important, but by making these historical turning points the character’s turning point, neither gets the time to make a lasting impression. I had a hard time emotionally connecting to anyone, which in turn made this book feel like a collection of short stories instead of a connected family-history novel.

So the strength and the power of “Homegoing” lies in Gyasi’s engaging writing style, and with her ability to show how colonialism, slavery, and prejudice can affect a country and a family for many years. The fact that the characters had to ‘compete’ with their turning point did create a distance, but still this impressive debut is one that I would recommend to others.

"The family is like the forest: if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position.”

Ps. The ending however? The ending of this book was silly. The story was already sizzling out, but the ending just made me go “No. No, this is ridiculous.” It fits the message of the book – but no. ...more

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Jun 25, 2018 Erica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: languishing-literature-2018

This should be required reading. A brilliant, poignant novel that tracks generations of a family through Africa and America.

I think this quote from the novel sums up my feelings about the importance of this story.

"This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others. Those who were there in the olden days, they told stories to the children so that the children would know, so that the chil ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2017 Kai rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, cultural, 5-stars, female-author-read-2017, africa

What a killer debut! Yaa Gyasi captures so many stories and handles them beautifully. I actually liked the format. While I wanted to stay with and learn more about some of the characters, the book never got bogged down and it was an interesting way to slice through time. To see how different parts of the world grew (or didn't). The fact that she was able to develop each character so fully and make me care about each one in so few pages is amazing.

I think Homegoing should be required reading in ...more

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Jul 23, 2023 Ashley Jacobson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-fiction

This is just going to be a brain dump of my thoughts!

This novel felt the way Toni Morrison novels feel (but without the graphic scenes that turn people away from Morrison). It felt important. It felt like it had a big, impactful message. And it did. Gyasi crafts many short stories that all are tied together through experience and family. Each chapter is one complete story where we meet a main character who we never see again. It seemed like it should be annoying, but I always felt satisfied at t This is just going to be a brain dump of my thoughts!

This novel felt the way Toni Morrison novels feel (but without the graphic scenes that turn people away from Morrison). It felt important. It felt like it had a big, impactful message. And it did. Gyasi crafts many short stories that all are tied together through experience and family. Each chapter is one complete story where we meet a main character who we never see again. It seemed like it should be annoying, but I always felt satisfied at the end and was excited to meet the next person. As I finished the novel, I felt the same way I did every time I finished a Morrison novel- I knew there was more to it. I knew there was more to learn, but I didnt know what it was. I'm so glad for Sharon McMahon's book club where we got to meet the author and hear about her purpose and experience writing. Gyasi wanted to convey how each individual is important and not alone in this big world. She wanted to show us how the things our ancestors experienced impact us today and how the things we are doing now will impact our family for generations. I love when an author sets out with an important purpose and I enjoy learning what that is. But I also like how I've heard authors say that once they finish a book, they let it go into the world and it becomes the readers'. That's why I love Fredrik Backman. So it was interesting to me, that after Gyasi explained her purpose in writing this novel, she said the same thing! That the reader now owned the work and got to find their own meaning in it. So beautiful! This would be a great book for high schoolers to read and discuss. So many literary marks (those things English teachers look for in a good book) but also a great story that teens can find meaning in (they are not alone, what they do matters, etc..) and a book that can make a difference in the way we see the world. I also have to say that it doesn't just remind me of Morrison. It also had some Colson Whitehead in it because of the way the stories were crafted to show us inside a world we wouldn't otherwise see. But I also felt like the story landed better than his do. I always feel like his stories are missing something and are so close to great. This was great. ...more

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Jul 31, 2018 Nanci rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, literary

3.5 Stars
This book was beautifully written, but I had a difficult time keeping track of the many characters. Each chapter is devoted to one character. Sometimes they are connected, but oftentimes it’s only loosely, or not at all. I would have enjoyed it more had there been more connection. This was for my RL bookgroup, otherwise I don’t know that I would have stuck it out until the end. It gets a lot of 5 star ratings, so maybe it just didn’t work for me.

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Dec 14, 2016 Toni FGMAMTC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: family, historical-fiction, war, best-2016, black-mc, african-american-fiction, slavery, africa

This is amazing storytelling. It follows the history of a family in Africa from the 1700's through to current times. All the feelings are there. The plot is fascinating. I've never read about how things were in Africa during this time. The different tribes were at war with each other. They had slaves. They sold slaves to the British who sold them to America. Two sisters with the same mother and fathers from two different warring tribes have separate journeys. One marries one of the British slave ...more

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