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A review by inherbooks
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
5.0
Wow. This book took my breath away and left me with a longing for my ancestors.
The novel, Homegoing written by Yaa Gyasi, is a story that follows Maame, an Asante slave in a Fante house, and the seven generations that follow her two daughters that never met each other through circumstances outside of her control. The journey begins in Ghana in the late 18th century, a time when the slave trade was a booming business opportunity for the British as they recruited “powerful” Africans to take part and sell their own people. The author wastes no time to highlight West Africa’s role in supporting the slave trade, and the years it takes to regain the independence lost, though the human lives are no more. In each chapter, time moves forward, and you read the stories that intricately thread together a fabric sewn with pain, loss, anguish, torture but also love, family, respect and unshakeable values and culture. No story is one and the same, though the blood that runs through them and ancestry are one.
What is a homegoing? It is an old African-American Christian tradition that celebrates the live of a person returning to their lord. The title of this novel is unique in that a homegoing is also the belief that only through death, would a slave be able to make the trip back to Africa, home.
The story is told with detail that only a story told from the heart can contain. Every line, every word, intertwined with a poetic beauty, I had to stop and read again to take it all in. I didn’t want to miss a bit. I could go on about this book all day, honestly, and there aren’t enough words to describe it. I would share a small part of it, but this novel deserves to be consumed in it’s entirety. But if you really want to know my favourite bit that struck a chord, I just might!
If you decide to read this one, take your time with it to take it all in.
The novel, Homegoing written by Yaa Gyasi, is a story that follows Maame, an Asante slave in a Fante house, and the seven generations that follow her two daughters that never met each other through circumstances outside of her control. The journey begins in Ghana in the late 18th century, a time when the slave trade was a booming business opportunity for the British as they recruited “powerful” Africans to take part and sell their own people. The author wastes no time to highlight West Africa’s role in supporting the slave trade, and the years it takes to regain the independence lost, though the human lives are no more. In each chapter, time moves forward, and you read the stories that intricately thread together a fabric sewn with pain, loss, anguish, torture but also love, family, respect and unshakeable values and culture. No story is one and the same, though the blood that runs through them and ancestry are one.
What is a homegoing? It is an old African-American Christian tradition that celebrates the live of a person returning to their lord. The title of this novel is unique in that a homegoing is also the belief that only through death, would a slave be able to make the trip back to Africa, home.
The story is told with detail that only a story told from the heart can contain. Every line, every word, intertwined with a poetic beauty, I had to stop and read again to take it all in. I didn’t want to miss a bit. I could go on about this book all day, honestly, and there aren’t enough words to describe it. I would share a small part of it, but this novel deserves to be consumed in it’s entirety. But if you really want to know my favourite bit that struck a chord, I just might!
If you decide to read this one, take your time with it to take it all in.