Homegoing

A novel

by Yaa Gyasi

audio cd

Published June 7, 2016 by Random House Audio.

ISBN:: 978-0-7352-0981-7

(80 reviews)

Homegoing is the debut historical fiction novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, published in 2016. Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two daughters, who are half-sisters, separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held captive in the dungeons below. Subsequent chapters follow their children and following generations.

The novel was selected in 2016 for the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" award, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book, and was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2017. It received the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for 2017, an American Book Award, and the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature.

27 editions

Sharyl reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is Yaa Gyasi's award-winning debut novel--and she was only 26 years old. That in itself is fascinating. I will certainly be following her career.

Homegoing is a stunning accomplishment, covering some 25o years and eight generations, illustrating the devastation of families and culture caused by the slave trade, and creating inspirational characters along the way.

It starts as the story of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, whose lives follow two very different paths: one is married to a British officer who is involved in the slave trade, while the other is captured to be sold into slavery in America. Each chapter is a story about a descendant, and these stories alternate between Africa (what is now Ghana) and the United States.

There is wisdom in these pages that is memorable and will stay with me for quite some time. I'd recommend this novel to absolutely anyone.

seabelis reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I think this is the best book I've read all year. Makes me wish I still had a book club. There's so much packed into this book. Much to think about.

TowerOfTheArchmage reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I honestly didn't know what I was grabbing when I snagged this from the shelf at the library. It's not exactly a novel, and not exactly a short story collection, but vignettes, small slices of life from a single family over hundreds of years. Either way, it was well written, and I would have enjoyed even deeper looks into their lives.

GG reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is less a novel and more a collection of connected short stories. I recently read "Barkskins" by Annie Proulx, which is very similar insofar as it follows multiple characters down through generations, and I have many of the same criticisms. Being introduced to so many characters, many who we follow for fewer than 30 pages, makes it tough to care about any of them as individuals. Both books detail the way that injustice is carried down through generations. But "Homegoing" provides an interesting contextualization of a history that I've only read about in a dry, non-fictional context, and the book helps to make it feel much more real and immediate.

periwinkleReads reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

What a beautiful book. Each bit moved, delighted or often near wrecked me. Gyasi manages to convey emotjon consistently without losing effect. I was not prepared to read this book, but so grateful I did.