Homegoing
Ghana

Homegoing

by Yaa Gyasi

Colonialism Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Family Saga 2016

Summary

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born in eighteenth-century Ghana, their lives divided by the forces of slavery and colonialism. Effia marries a British slave trader and lives in comfort above the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, unaware that her sister Esi is imprisoned below before being sold into slavery in America. From the villages of Ghana to the plantations of the American South and the streets of modern Harlem, their descendants inherit the consequences of choices, violence, and histories they never experienced themselves. Spanning eight generations and three centuries, Homegoing is a powerful exploration of how slavery reshapes families, how trauma travels across generations, and how the past continues to influence the present.

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Country
Ghana
Africa
About the author
Yaa Gyasi
Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi is a Ghanaian-American novelist born in 1989 in Mampong, Ghana. She moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. Her experiences of navigating different cultural worlds inform her exploration of identity, history, and belonging. Gyasi studied English at Stanford University before earning a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her debut novel, Homegoing (2016), received widespread critical acclaim, winning the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award. Her second novel, Transcendent Kingdom (2020), explores faith, family, grief, and the intersection of science and spirituality through the story of a Ghanaian-American neuroscientist. Gyasi is recognized for her emotionally nuanced storytelling and her ability to connect intimate family experiences with larger historical forces.

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Details
Published
2016
Author
Yaa Gyasi