Homegoing

By Yaa Gyasi

Book Overview

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE - WINNER OF THE PEN / HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION - Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery.

One of Oprah's Best Books of the Year, Homegoing follows the parallel paths of these sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. Yaa Gyasi's extraordinary novel illuminates slavery's troubled legacy both for those who were taken and those who stayed--and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1101971061
• ISBN13: 9781101971062
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Incredible book

I recommend this book to all of my friends. It’s a gripping story of the lives of two sisters and their descendants. Powerful writing and impossible to put down.

Everyone needs to read this book!!!

This book has changed me. The author is amazing!!

If you’re listening, this novel Speaks

Homegoing is one of those rare books that doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you feel the weight of history in a way that lingers long after you’ve finished. Yaa Gyasi masterfully weaves together generations of one family, tracing the brutal legacy of slavery and colonialism across continents and centuries. The novel’s structure isn’t just compelling; it’s essential. Each chapter stands on its own, yet together, they form a sweeping, deeply emotional whole—one that mirrors the fragmentation and resilience of those whose histories were stolen, erased, or rewritten. Gyasi’s writing is powerful in its restraint, letting silence and absence speak as loudly as words. She doesn’t over-explain or indulge in excessive detail because she doesn’t have to—the emotions, the weight of loss, and the echoes of the past are all there, woven into the fabric of the story. It’s not just historical fiction; it’s a reckoning. Homegoing challenges readers to see history not as a distant thing, but as something that still shapes the present. A brilliant, necessary book.

Historical Fiction Lite

Hello All. The author, Yaa Gyasi, got off to a terrific start by inventing this ancestry of characters. Kudos. Well done. No book of historical fiction will get out of the garage without characters. And her structure is a lesson to us all. Invent the characters, then build the story. That said, and by her own admission, this book is long on perspective, but short on details. Historical fiction Lite. So many issues to cover. So many moving parts. I like the structure very very much. Each chapter is a short story unto itself. It is not necessary to read this book cover-to-cover in order to enjoy fine writing. Regarding the missing parts, this writing is almost like James Joyce. Much of this writing is stream of consciousness, and Yaa Gyasi dives into the mind of her characters. I dearly enjoyed reading the chapter where the woman protagonist is sleep walking. Dr. Phil is not needed here to connect the big, bold, dots. Memorable moments. However, they do not add up to a whole. Some people in my book club were confused by the alternating structure. Me? I found relief by getting out of one family line, and into the next. I found that the story flowed from one family dynamic to the next. Is this book worth reading? You bet. Almost as much as "The World According to Garp." Is this book great historical fiction? I don't know. Ask Alex Haley. Oops, dead.

Spectacularly Important Read

This book is so heart-wrenching and compelling. I read it in 2 days, which is extremely fast for me. It is a fictionalized way of discussing very real generational trauma and systemic issues. Everyone should read this.

Won’t be able to put it down

It is a very well written story about two sisters separated by birth during the slave trade in Africa. The two lineages end up in Harlem New York. It transports the readers trough two time lines in America and Africa. It’s a must read.

The Ties That Bind Us

This book is without a doubt a MUST READ!! It starts off with the tale of two sisters separated by both birth and circumstance and it follows their lineage down the line all the way to freedom in Harlem, NY. The best part of this story is the connection that the family has the entire time and never even know it. Each respective bloodline is wrapped in one another through the choices they make throughout a lifetime of trying to escape and run back to their past. And the fact that they are all connected through fire really blew my mind. It just goes to show that no matter how far you may end up from your beginning you always will find your way straight back to it. Yaa painted a beautiful picture of family ties and how we can never shake them no matter how hard we may try to, how much we may fear it, and fast we run from it.