Homegoing in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 12, 2017 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it

Shelves: problems-ideas

Two sisters in Africa. One becomes the wife of a white man who rounds up slaves. And the other is captured as a slave.

Each chapter moves forward a generation for each sister, like a collection of powerful short stories shifting on a timeline. We quickly become connected to the terrible dramas in the lives of the sisters' descendants. The stories are little immersive experiences into places and times and difficulties seldom previously shared with readers.

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Feb 18, 2018 Lindsey Z rated it it was amazing

I've studied African, African American, and African diasporic literature for years. This debut novel by a supremely talented writer somehow, in a mere 300 pages, traces the genesis of the African diaspora as a result of the slave trade through to the current African diaspora in America in a way I have yet encountered in literature. I've never read a novel structured like this before, either. By following the opening family tree closely, you soon come to realize that each chapter is a story about I've studied African, African American, and African diasporic literature for years. This debut novel by a supremely talented writer somehow, in a mere 300 pages, traces the genesis of the African diaspora as a result of the slave trade through to the current African diaspora in America in a way I have yet encountered in literature. I've never read a novel structured like this before, either. By following the opening family tree closely, you soon come to realize that each chapter is a story about someone in the family lineage; the chapters alternate between the two branches of the family tree and each chapter is about the successive generation. Gyasi's writing is inspired and remarkably insightful. Within each chapter, she alternates between the past and the present. Homegoing claims a family lineage for so many African Americans who cannot claim one. In effect, Gyasi proclaims that everyone is deserving of knowing their family history and feeling connected to those who came before them, even though so many people in this country have grown up disconnected from their pasts as a result of pain, trauma, and erasure. The novel argues that African Americans have inherited their ancestors' traumas, traumas brought about by enslavement in its various forms over the years--slavery, indentured servitude, incarceration, hard labor, racism, poverty. Gyasi also follows a branch of the family tree that stays in Africa for multiple generations, as a result of the merging of British and African slavers through marriage and procreation. Besides these massive intellectual and historical undertakings, Gyasi tackles issues of passing, mixed race identity, neglectful fathers and mothers, community ostracism, and what it means to feel "home" somewhere and with someone. My only critique of this novel is that I found myself attached to many of the characters, particularly Ness and Marjorie, but Gyasi's format didn't allow me to really get to know them. This novel is pure brilliance and anyone seeking to better understand the history of African Americans and the legacies of slavery that still persist in our country today should read it. ...more

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Jul 28, 2022 Shiva rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed

This is such a beautiful and eye-opening narration of generations of displaced individuals.
I loved all of it but especially the ending when many decades later, the two people from the same lineage find their way to each other. I would like to think that it is because of their shared yet unknown history and relation that they can each overcome their own fears and get peace.

5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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