A review by curatoriallyyours
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book is a genealogical epic, tracing the lineage of two sisters who never knew each other from their beginnings in Ghana in the slave trade era. The story is presented in vignettes - the two family lines taking turns in telling their story with each generation. A family tree at the beginning of the book is most useful in keeping track of where each narrator sits within the lineage. The aspect I appreciated most in this book is the deep dive it takes on the far-reaching effects of the colonial mindset and the slave trade. I also love the characters and how we get to know them and their struggles in each vignette. One of the other takeaways for me was the lack of agency that women had and how each woman in the story coped under the circumstances she found herself in. A beautifully written book with vivid characters and important stories to tell.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Knowing this book is about slavery, most references to sensitive topics are absolutely historically contextual and, in my opinion, not overdone.