“And in my village we have a saying about separated sisters. They are like a woman and her reflection, doomed to stay on opposite sides of the pond.” I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has managed to stuff so much history, trauma, heartbreak, love, hardship, and resilience into so few pages. At just 300 pages, Yaa Gyasi manages to weave a rich web of connecting stories, spanning hundreds of years in history over 7 generations. We begin with two sisters, Effia and […]
The breath of longing
So much has been written about this book here on CBR, I almost had no choice but to read it. But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I finally got it from Overdrive. It took me days to get into it, and I read multiple books in between the early chapters. But I stuck with it because the premise was very good, and it has received near universal praise (both here, and in the broader literary world). Sticking with a book that […]
Read this book! And then give it to someone else to read.
Here’s another one going on my “give to all my friends” list! This book is really, really good. Each chapter is a vignette of one person per generation, starting with two half-sisters, Essie and Effia. One is sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. The chapters follow six of each of their descendants in Ghana and America. As you might expect, 6 generations of African and Africa-American history includes some seriously ugly chapters: colonialism, explicit and implicit racism, the transatlantic slave trade, the Fugitive Slave […]
“Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.”
4.5 stars. I hate to say I sometimes judge books by their covers, but it’s the truth. It wasn’t until I saw the stunning UK cover that I really stopped and paid attention to this book everyone has raved about. No regrets! This was a stunning debut novel and absolutely worth a read. Homegoing is a generational tale that starts with two half sisters in the Gold Coast, Effia and Esi. One becomes the wife of a white slave trader and the other is sold […]