BOOKS FROM GHANAHomegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
Description:
Winner of the NBCC's John Leonard First Book Prize A New York Times 2016 Notable Book One of Oprah’s 10 Favorite Books of 2016 NPR's Debut Novel of the Year One of Buzzfeed's Best Fiction Books Of 2016 One of Time's Top 10 Novels of 2016 “Homegoing is an inspiration.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day. Effia and Esi are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.
Reviews:
(9 months ago) |
17 Mar, 2024
great book
|
(5 months ago) |
25 Jun, 2024
Fantastic book
|
(1 month ago) |
25 Oct, 2024
Ce premier roman est une belle réussite. L'autrice a le don de raconter des histoires et elle réussit à faire naître une véritable sympathie pour ses personnages malgré le fait qu'on leur consacre à peine une quinzaine de pages chacun, ce qui selon moi, est un véritable tour de force narratif.
|
(3 weeks ago) |
24 Nov, 2024
Incredible book. Cannot recommend enough
|
(3 weeks ago) |
24 Nov, 2024
Beautifully sad story of two half sisters born in Ghana during the slave trade and how the subsequent 6 generations moved through life. I was impressed with how the author was able to pull in that much story and emotion in roughly 300 pages. I do wish the later generations were discussed more in depth as the story started to feel rushed at the end. I had to look up a family tree online to follow along with who was who.
Listened on audiobook and the narrator was perfection
|
Add comment
More books from Ghana
More books from Read Around Africa Challenge
