Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Amy  

historical fiction

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is really a book of short stories. Each story is a snapshot of the life of one of the descendants of one woman from Ghana in Africa. She had given birth to two daughters in the 18th century, each to a different father. The two half-sisters do not know each other and had very different lives. One gets married to a British officer running the slave trade out of the Cape Coast Castle. The other ends up being one of the slaves shipped to America. As you can imagine, the lives of their descendants are very different.

The stories alternate from the first sister’s child in Africa, to the second sister’s child in America, and then the first’s grandchild, and then the second’s grandchild, and so on. It goes all the way through the generations to the early 21st century. Most of the stories are tragic. Sometimes the children do not know their parents. Sometimes they must struggle to survive. They are unfairly treated. The slaves in America have extremely difficult lives, as expected. However, the descendants of the British officer do not fare much better in Africa. Modern times bring progress and improved civil rights so that the last generation’s life is much easier than their ancestors’. But, until the recent times, there is great sadness, struggle, and pain. It’s hard to read sometimes. The writing and the storytelling is beautifully done. Since the stories are connected by very thin threads and the stories each stand alone, this was an easy book to set aside between short stories when there were other books I wanted/needed to read. That is why it took so long for me to finish this one.

The narrator of the audiobook, Dominic Hoffman, was outstanding. His accents, swapping between African and American, were wonderful. His voice acting was entirely perfect. I really fell in love with his deep tones and his ability to bring the characters to life. The added benefit of hearing the story is that I know how the African words are pronounced. (However, I wouldn’t be able to spell them!) I give Mr. Hoffman an A+!