Homegoing in ECIS Libraries Week 2021

Jun 06, 2021 Kristi Hovington rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: jedi-books, the-best-of-the-best

Brilliant, haunting, searing, heart breaking, magnificent. If I start writing about this I won’t stop, but truly, this novel is a wonder, in both form and content.

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Apr 03, 2022 Marie rated it liked it

A multigenerational sweep that takes us from Ghana during the beginning of the slave trade to the diaspora to the US and back again. You’ll see the complicity of tribes with the British, the interracial/intertribal marriages that complicate allegiances, the intergenerational trauma that haunts a family line as it splits two half sisters asunder and follows their family lineages to the present day. It’s a fascinating epic, one that’s aided by the family trees mapped in the front of the book. I di ...more

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Jan 06, 2017 K rated it really liked it

Shelves: anti-racism, african-american-reads

The idea for this novel is so simple, yet brilliant, it's a wonder it hasn't been done before. A 26-year-old Ghanaian-American (and proud graduate of Stanford and the Iowa Writer's Workshop MFA program) traces the lineage of one part of a family that stays in Ghana and the other part that was shipped to America as slaves.

The Ghanaian history was all new to me. I enjoyed reading about it and learning how colonialism and the slave trade impacted the area. Yaa Gyasi presented what happened without The idea for this novel is so simple, yet brilliant, it's a wonder it hasn't been done before. A 26-year-old Ghanaian-American (and proud graduate of Stanford and the Iowa Writer's Workshop MFA program) traces the lineage of one part of a family that stays in Ghana and the other part that was shipped to America as slaves.

The Ghanaian history was all new to me. I enjoyed reading about it and learning how colonialism and the slave trade impacted the area. Yaa Gyasi presented what happened without shame or judgement and showed the African part of enabling human trafficking (and the British part of organizing it) to the New World. This book is going to create a lot of interest in Ghana.

Surprisingly, I think Gyasi softened the horrors of American slavery a bit. There was no chapter on what it was like to come over to America on a slave ship. As it was, the horrors do come alive in her book, but not in a way that should be a barrier to reading. I especially appreciated her detailed description of what it was like to be a slave convict in the mines and how people invented their own hope.

Incarcerating people to use them for free labor hasn't ended in America since then - indeed, it may be at its peak. America to this day, incarcerates more people per 100,000 than any civilization that has ever existed. There are more people now in America's prisons than there were enslaved during those times, and there are more people in American prisons now then were impacted by South Africa under apartheid.

Yaa Gyasi chose to tell a lesser-known story of Harlem's history: addiction and degradation. I am sure there will be people who are disappointed she didn't create a Black Renaissance character that showcased the glories of highbrow Harlem, but I think this character achieved more. Marcus provokes the reader to think about how his plight could be prevented in the future. It's still very tough to be a black man in America.

Reading the book, the spiritual blind spot of slavery is so obvious, it causes the reader to look around and ask, 'what are we currently experiencing as a spiritual blind spot?' I've already mentioned mass incarceration. What would you add? ...more

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Jul 27, 2020 Kris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-historical, best-diverse-reads, best-literature, important

As the reader follows the descendants of two half-sisters in Ghana through 7 generations a rich history is uncovered for the reader. Each story is unique and filled with individuality and possibilities. There is a lot of realistic tragedy portrayed on these pages but I found it also to be quite a page turner. It's a book to get completely absorbed in and one that will stick with you long after. ...more

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Jan 06, 2019 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites, adult-fiction, poc-bipoc-authors

Wow. This has been on my TBR for a while and I am glad I finally picked it up. This is one of those books that everyone should read at least once. It’s not an easy read, there are many parts that will break your heart and make you question humanity. The author chose a fascinating structure to tell the story. Each section is told from a different character’s perspective as we pass through a family tree from generation to generation. The novel spans from the late 18th century to present day. Thoug ...more

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