Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi🐾
Hello and welcome back to Boots’ Bookshelf!
This week’s book, paw-picked by Boots, was Homegoing, a novel that spans 300 years and follows the parallel paths of two half-sisters (who never met) and their descendants. Boots and I curled up together and finished the book within a week.
But, was it a cat-tastic read or did it leave us hissing? Let’s find out! 😻📖
Quick Look
Genre: Historical fiction
Release Date: 2016
Page Count: 300
Vibe Check: A touching and emotional story that makes you think and gives the voice back to those who were unable to speak!
Purr Rating: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 (5/5 Paws)
The Plot sans Spoilers
Half-sisters Effie and Esi are born into two villages in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), each unaware of the other. One of them marries an Englishman and lives a life of comfort while the other is sold into slavery and forever separated from the land of her ancestors. The story then follows the parallel paths of their descendants across the course of 300 years, or eight generations. During the course of the story, we see the ramifications of slavery both on those who remained in Ghana and on those who were sold and made to live in America. Switching back and forth between the descendants, the story is told as vignettes, offering snapshots into the lives of each character.
Now it’s time for our 🐾Paws and Claws!
Paws
One of the biggest paws was the storytelling! Yaa Gyasi has such a gift for storytelling - her words seemed to lift off the page and envelop the reader in it, transporting them from small villages in Africa to the plantations of the South to the development of Ghana to the Harlem Renaissance to the start of the Civil Rights Movement and end of segregation.
Another paw was the fact that the story spanned 300 years. I loved that it kept going and the reader literally took a trip through history, watching alongside the characters as history unfolded. It was surreal reading about the changes in Ghana and America simultaneously and seeing the impact that slavery left on both nations.
The last paw was the structure of the novel. I was a bit hesitant when I realized that it was written as snippets into the lives of each character we met but I quickly grew to appreciate that because it allowed for so much more growth and development of Gyasi’s concept behind the book. We got to see how the decisions of past generations affected the next generation, something that novels oftentimes do not give readers as “the end” usually means the story is over. In this case, the end of one person’s story left the reader excited to see how it would impact their descendant’s story and, sometimes, how it would impact that same character later on. For example, Effie and Esi are within their own stories but are also referenced in their descendants’ stories as well, showing how stories are passed down within family lineage as well.
Claws
One of my initial claws was how short the story seemed for each character. Yet, as I read, I was amazed by the emotional depth Gyasi was able to portray in just a few pages and, honestly, it made me appreciate the curtness of each snippet even more because it just made it that more powerful to read.
This book has been on my list for some time since *confession* I bought it back in 2017. I’ve tried to read it on a few different occasions but there was always something interrupting me. After finishing it this time, my only other claw is that I didn’t read this sooner!
Boots’ Thoughts
My mom loved this book - she was smiling and crying throughout. I haven’t seen her so immersed in a book in a long time - she normally doesn’t like anything that makes her sad or makes her question the unfairness of life (it upsets her) but she devoured this story.
She kept going on about how amazing this story was and how glad she is that she finally read it 🐾
Final Verdict
...
Final Verdict ...
Was Homegoing worth the catnip? Boots gives it 5 paws: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
We recommend it to readers who like books with:
🐾 Family lineage
🐾 Deep dive into slavery and effects of colonialism
🐾 African culture and traditions
🐾 LOTS of emotions - I mean an emotional ride throughout!
Purr-spective Wrap-Up
Ready to give this book a read? Let me know what you think in the comments—especially if your furry friends approve too! Don’t forget to follow for more purr-fect recs and reviews.
Until then, stay paw-sitive and read on! ✨
Boots & Nalicia
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