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A review by allthatissim
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
4.0
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Trigger Warning: Slavery, Rape/Sexual abuse, Assault, Racism, Violence, Abusive language
I would like to start this review by telling that this book was NOT easy to read, at least for me. It takes a little time to adjust to the structure of the book. Rather than a full-fledged story, this book can be treated as short-stories about different characters. But this book is a must-read!
Homegoing spans through seven generations, telling the story of one person from each generation so in total there are fourteen perspectives. It starts with two half-sisters – Effia and Esi – who were unknown of each other’s existence. Effia marries to a slave trader while Esi was forced into slavery. Two sisters with totally different fates. One’s fate confides her and her family to mostly in Ghana, while the other’s lead her and her family to slavery in America.
Each chapter is from the perspective of a new character. The story starts in the 18th century and ends in the current world. The book starts with Effia and Esi telling their stories in respective chapters and then end with their future child. The stories are being told in the same manner afterward, from the perspective of that generation character.
As you will read the story of each generation, you would be able to track the cultural changes that took place in both Ghana and America. You would get to know how colonialism, slavery, and racism spread from Ghana to America. You will experience the life during the tribal wars of the 1700s, how that tribal war forced a tribe to be slaves of British and Americans. The stories will transport you from the Gold Coast of Ghana to crossing Atlantic, to cotton plantations, to coal mines, to Jazz clubs, to Harlem during Civil Rights movement.
This is a plot-heavy book, and at several times you would find yourself looking to the family tree. Each of the characters are well focused and [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has created them with utmost care. Every character portrayed a depth of emotions that are often hard to understand. I love how well the author has tied up the stories of the people over the generations. Even the time gap between each story is not a hurdle in the whole storyline. At the end of each chapter, you get a sneak peek of the future generation so you don’t feel like you are lost.
Though I would have preferred a different ending, I was quite satisfied with how Gyasi closed the story. I guess she was trying to show that though you are apart from your origin and heritage, it inexplicably binds people together through fate and time.
Though the book is only 300 pages long (but with the small font-size), it is so vast in scope that it manages to showcase almost every crucial event in African American history. Be it the slave trade with British, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law or the Great Migration. I am not a history buff and so I was not aware of many of the events mentioned. But I am glad that now I know.
This book is a true testament to the scars of slavery. Though I am not an African so my understanding might be little different than the natives. But I do feel that [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has managed to portray the history of slavery very well. Besides slavery, [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has also managed to pull the dynamics of family and relationships.
You also get to know a lot of things about African culture. I wish there were some kind of glossary given in the end because in the initial chapters there were many African words used and sometimes it was hard to decode it.
This book is a must-read, though I agree that the narrative is a little complex to grasp. With a wide variety of characters, this story is rich in its meaning. Gyasi has managed to include so many details in only 300 pages and yet it doesn’t feel rushed. This is a good book to know and experience about all that slave culture and the African movement. This is a fine mix of history and storytelling.
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Trigger Warning: Slavery, Rape/Sexual abuse, Assault, Racism, Violence, Abusive language
I would like to start this review by telling that this book was NOT easy to read, at least for me. It takes a little time to adjust to the structure of the book. Rather than a full-fledged story, this book can be treated as short-stories about different characters. But this book is a must-read!
Homegoing spans through seven generations, telling the story of one person from each generation so in total there are fourteen perspectives. It starts with two half-sisters – Effia and Esi – who were unknown of each other’s existence. Effia marries to a slave trader while Esi was forced into slavery. Two sisters with totally different fates. One’s fate confides her and her family to mostly in Ghana, while the other’s lead her and her family to slavery in America.
Each chapter is from the perspective of a new character. The story starts in the 18th century and ends in the current world. The book starts with Effia and Esi telling their stories in respective chapters and then end with their future child. The stories are being told in the same manner afterward, from the perspective of that generation character.
As you will read the story of each generation, you would be able to track the cultural changes that took place in both Ghana and America. You would get to know how colonialism, slavery, and racism spread from Ghana to America. You will experience the life during the tribal wars of the 1700s, how that tribal war forced a tribe to be slaves of British and Americans. The stories will transport you from the Gold Coast of Ghana to crossing Atlantic, to cotton plantations, to coal mines, to Jazz clubs, to Harlem during Civil Rights movement.
This is a plot-heavy book, and at several times you would find yourself looking to the family tree. Each of the characters are well focused and [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has created them with utmost care. Every character portrayed a depth of emotions that are often hard to understand. I love how well the author has tied up the stories of the people over the generations. Even the time gap between each story is not a hurdle in the whole storyline. At the end of each chapter, you get a sneak peek of the future generation so you don’t feel like you are lost.
Though I would have preferred a different ending, I was quite satisfied with how Gyasi closed the story. I guess she was trying to show that though you are apart from your origin and heritage, it inexplicably binds people together through fate and time.
Though the book is only 300 pages long (but with the small font-size), it is so vast in scope that it manages to showcase almost every crucial event in African American history. Be it the slave trade with British, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law or the Great Migration. I am not a history buff and so I was not aware of many of the events mentioned. But I am glad that now I know.
This book is a true testament to the scars of slavery. Though I am not an African so my understanding might be little different than the natives. But I do feel that [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has managed to portray the history of slavery very well. Besides slavery, [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has also managed to pull the dynamics of family and relationships.
You also get to know a lot of things about African culture. I wish there were some kind of glossary given in the end because in the initial chapters there were many African words used and sometimes it was hard to decode it.
This book is a must-read, though I agree that the narrative is a little complex to grasp. With a wide variety of characters, this story is rich in its meaning. Gyasi has managed to include so many details in only 300 pages and yet it doesn’t feel rushed. This is a good book to know and experience about all that slave culture and the African movement. This is a fine mix of history and storytelling.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon