Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: To Read or Not to Read?

Posted On August 2, 2022

Hi Readers! I recently read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I was expecting so much from it, but like many times before, my expectations lead to disappointment. I suppose the name of the book Homegoing itself is the purpose of the book. I searched online & saw this: The title (Homegoing) is taken from an old African-American belief that death allowed an enslaved person’s spirit to travel back to Africa. I have to admit that I like the meaning of the title of the book much more than the book itself.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-sisters, 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.

Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi’s magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.

~~WRITING STYLE~~

Homegoing is a 300-page book spanning 250 years. The story starts with half-sisters Effia & Esi & goes down through generations after generations. But, the blurb was misleading. I thought that the story was mainly Effia & Esi’s & how they will eventually find their way to each other. If it were this with some surprise quotients on the way, then it would have been emotional & heart-wrecking. But, it was not that way at all for me.

We see Effia & Esi’s story for the initial 2 chapters & that is it. It’s written in such a way that every next chapter is about the next descendant of Effia’s & then of Esi’s. If anything remotely interesting happens to Character A, it’s cut at the end of that chapter. And then we only get an explanation after 2 chapters. And even then, it’s in about less than 5 sentences because that chapter is of Character AA (the son/daughter of Character A.) By that point, the interesting thing has already faded in readers’ mind & so reduces the impact of the earlier writing. Also, within the 15-20 pages of one chapter, the story transcends between the past & the present too often. These were the two things I found difficult in the writing style.

Thirdly, because there are about 20 characters spanning 250 years in 300 pages, the time with each of them is extremely limited. You don’t get enough time to bond with them. And without that emotional connect, no matter how tragic the circumstances, you are not really gutted about it. Take other novels that have spanned through generations, such as Pachinko or The Mountains Sing. I loved those books because there are fewer characters but you know all those characters & whatever tragic happens to them, you actually FEEL it! This is why, I feel that this is not a book for readers who love characters-driven novels. This is more of a collection of short stories that are vaguely related to each other. And, if you look at them from an individual perspective, there isn’t a wow factor at all.

Lastly, the end where the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Effia would end up with the great-great-great-great grandson of Esi was much too predictable.

~~THEMES OF COLONIZATION, SLAVE TRADE & SEGREGATION~~

Now coming to the central theme of the book, because of which I’m guessing it got the fame it did: colonization, slavery, racism in Ghana & United States. Effia’s line of generation was raised differently than Esi’s line. The effects of colonization are seen in Effia’s descendants, who instantly get a better living space, education & higher-level jobs. While they do benefit from this, they are constantly in the pool of dilemma about their roots – are they white or black? Which traditions & religious beliefs should they follow? Where should they live? Why do they speak ‘like that’? Why were their black parents arrested even if they were free? These existential questions deeply rooted in their family tree persist throughout the novel. The loss of one’s identity & being, though not written very well, can be felt with every generation’s passing.

No matter how much crucial the other themes around colonization & racism were, they were still in the background. Reading Homegoing, you cannot get a view about colonization in Ghana or racism in America. There is way too much going on for you to actually understand it.

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~

If you are not so much interested in character-driven novels, then you should read it. If you want to read this book to understand the colonization in Ghana, then this may not be the best pick. I’m sure there are other better-written books where you will actually learn. If you are into short stories, then you should read it. If you love historical fiction & read the genre extensively, then you should read it.

I have rated Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi at 2.5/5 stars. This is a debut novel which is not perfect but focuses on many themes which need to be talked about in the 21^st century.

Until next time,