Why did I love this book?
This is my second read of Homegoing, and I’m always mesmerized by its imagery and ability to get me vested in characters that I know will have fleeting moments in such a vast narrative.
I consider this story a modern masterpiece in its conquering of a narrative that spans two hundred years and in its attention to detail. Gyasi’s ability to “show” through expressive descriptions and omniscient situational awareness offered such emotion for me. I think this level of placing the reader “there” would be very difficult for most authors with so many characters and alternating POVs.
It also gave me even more historical lessons regarding the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and made those familial connections between Africa and the United States, specifically, more palpable.
11 authors picked Homegoing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A BBC Top 100 Novels that Shaped Our World
Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself.…