African American Annotations: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing 

Yaa Gyasi

Genre: Historical fiction, Family chronicle, African American


Publication date: 2016


Number of pages: 320


Geographical setting: Ghana, Alabama, Harlem


Time Period: 1760 - present

Plot Summary: In mid-18th century Ghana, British colonization has turned the world into a dangerous place for Effia and Esi, two Ghanaian half-siblings living in a village in close proximity to a British outpost. Effia marries a British soldier while Esi is captured and sold into slavery, and their respective lives, as well as the lives of their descendants, are recounted in this inter-generational chronicle. Each chapter provides a snapshot of an important time in the life of a different character in the family tree as the reader explores the lasting repercussions of racism, colonialism, and slavery.


Subject Headings: Slavery, Colonialism, Intergenerational, Ghana


Appeal:

• Pacing: moderate, steady
• Tone: tragic, haunting
• Writing Style: broad, sweeping, descriptive
  

Read-a-likes:

• Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi - an intergenerational story of a Kenyan family that spans hundreds of years of history, from a tragic accident in 1750 that brings a curse upon the family all the way through the early 2000s.
• There There by Tommy Orange - a novel following the lives and stories of twelve different people making their way to the Big Oakland Powwow and focusing on the struggles of Native Americans who have had their lands forcibly stolen from them.
• The Hundred Wells of Salaga by Ayesha Harruna Attah - a story set in pre-colonial Ghana following the wildly different lives of two women. This novel grapples with the politics and society of the time period as well as abuse and romance.
  

Related authors: 

• Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Imbolo Mbue