HUMANIORA Vol. 31, No.

2 (June 2019)
page 221—223
https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jurnal-humaniora https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.v31i2.45608

BOOK REVIEW

Homegoing
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopp
Year of Publication: © 2017 (paperback)
ISBN 978-110-197-106-2

Louise Ling Edwards

Oberlin College, United States
Email: ledwards@oberlin.edu

In Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel Homegoing, two sisters such a large span of time is simply extraordinary. The
separated by circumstance are born in 18th-century Ghana constantly changing eras and personalities keep the stories
not far from the Cape Coast Castle. One sister, Effia, fresh and dynamic.
marries a white officer employed at the Castle and lives The shortness of each characters’ individual
a comfortable life there with her husband and son. The story builds the intensity of each chapter packing every
other sister, Esi, is captured during a raid on her village, paragraph with emotion. Yet, the brevity of the stories
marched to the Castle, and held in appalling conditions leaves the reader craving more, wondering what happens
in its dungeons. They reside in the castle together, yet after the snapshot of the characters’ life we are given. The
without knowledge of the other’s presence or situation. following chapters sometimes satisfy this craving, as the
The two sisters’ stories diverge when Esi is shipped to characters reappear as mothers, fathers, grandmothers, or
the southern plantations of the United States as part of grandfathers. Other times the threads of their stories are
the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The rest of the novel lost due to a slaver’s kidnapping, a purposeful cutting
follows the two branches of the family through seven of family ties, or an untimely death. However, this loss
generations in portrait-like chapters that alternate between of storylines is not necessarily a weakness in the plot.
describing the descendants of Effia and those of Esi. Not It forces the reader to deal with the disconnection that
only does the story illustrate how the legacy of slavery the characters feel. Our lack of knowledge of the story
impacts the two lineages generations after emancipation, mirrors the characters loss of family history.
but it describes an expansive scope of Black history and What does sometimes feel contrived, however, is
the relations between Africans and African-Americans that each generation often only has one child or if there
through personal narrative. are multiple children, some of them are pushed aside
What is impressive about the tale is that it utilizes or die in order to give way to a single heir to the next
thorough and complex character development to move chapter. Of course, this is a practical decision on the part
forward the histories of two nations over the span of 300 of Yaa Gyasi allowing readers to easily keep track of
years. Though each character only has a chapter dedicated all the characters, whose relationships to each other are
to their story, the reader is submersed in their world and conveniently recorded in a family tree at the beginning of
grasps each characters’ motivations, burdens, desires, and the book. The fixed nature of the family relationships and
heartbreaks in just 20 pages. James Collins, a son of an pattern of the generational chapters provides a grounding
important Fante family, falls in love with a daughter of structure to the emotional rollercoaster of the plot. Yet,
an Asante farmer while Kojo Freeman, a shipyard worker one still wonders what the narratives of the other siblings
in Baltimore, suffers a heartbreaking loss of his wife. are. How would the story have changed had a different
Willie Black aspires to become a jazz singer in Harlem sibling been given the limelight?
clubs while Akua Collins struggles with nightmares of her Understandably, Gyasi focuses on one character
past and her missionary upbringing in Edweso, Ghana. per chapter given the limited space that the structure
The complicated multitude of perspectives covered over provides, though understanding the interactions between
Humaniora, Vol. 31, No. 2 (June 2019)

the siblings would have been intriguing. one in the street in Kumasi. War between the British and
Characters take center stage in Homegoing, Asante continue in the following generation — Akua’s
though Gyasi takes care to drop hints about the timeline young children sing “Creator God, defeat the troops” and
throughout the chapters to ground the stories in historical her husband is sent to fight the British along with the rest
eras. In Esi’s branch of the family we’re taken from the of the young men. News arrives in the village that Asante
U.S.’s southern plantations to Baltimore where anxieties King Prempeh I has been exiled and the British Governor
abound surrounding the Fugitive Slave Act (1850)— a Frederick Hodgson demands the Golden Stool — a
law that required escaped slaves to be returned to their physical representation of the Asante nation’s leadership,
masters upon capture even if they resided in a free state. power, and spirit. The last two chapters of Effia’s branch
Kojo’s family has to deal with the constant fear that this contemplate the movement of African’s immigration to
legislation brings, having escaped slavery to Baltimore. the U.S. as well as their routine trips back to Africa to visit
Premonitions of the civil war follow and the story jumps family. The historical notes do not confuse a reader who
to Part II leaving a convenient break in the middle of the does not know Ghana’s history, but instead educate the
book representing the American Civil War and splitting reader on important events. Because the historical context
the book into two halves — pre-Civil War and post-Civil is woven into personal narratives of the characters, it
war. The plot then flows into the post-War Reconstruction is easy to follow the history as daily happenings in the
Era, through the Great Migration represented by Willie characters lives. Likely, those who may not know the
moving from the U.S. to the North to seek employment, details of American history, will also be able to follow
and then to Harlem where Carson joins the NAACP the story line easily and learn something about American
clearly placing him in the civil rights era. Finally, the history from the U.S.-based chapters.
book concludes with Marcus, a student at Stanford By covering so many eras in one narrative,
University, closing in modern times. Amazing, for Gyasi strategically ties the legacy of slavery to modern
those who know the arc of American history, simply by problems that Africans and African-Americans face.
mentioning the Fugitive Slave Act or the NAACP readers Despite overcoming many obstacles and disadvantages,
can place the individual characters’ stories in a broader the characters must constantly fight for their humanity,
historical context. In a story that could have easily been their freedom, and their rights. In the U.S., even after
overwhelmed by too many historical facts, the hints of Kojo escapes slavery with the help of his parents, he
history provide a perfect balance between providing some must constantly be on guard once the Fugitive Slave
historical context but not making the stories completely Act is passed. For H, after emancipation, he is quickly
ahistorical. This model of storytelling allows the personal arrested on the grounds of looking at a white woman
stories to echo the cultural and political movements of the wrong way. For this, he is forced to work in a
each era. coal mine alongside other convicts for 8 years under
However, if hints to history are the grounding brutal conditions. The managers have no qualms with
points for the timeline, one may wonder if this makes killing convicts for something as small as not mining
the story inaccessible to those who may not know the enough coal each day. Gyasi illustrates that even after
details of American history. Yet, the stories of Effia’s the abolishment of slavery, the criminal justice system
branch of the family take place almost entirely in Ghana becomes an extension of slavery. Though both white
— a place whose history many also may not know the and Black convicts work in the mine together, the white
details of. Despite this lack of knowledge, the story is convicts have been sentenced for much more severe
still emotionally powerful and easy to follow. Gyasi offenses like murder, demonstrating that the system is
continues to drop her historical hints. In the story of clearly racist. This reflects modern day issues the U.S.
third generation of Effia’s branch, Gyasi writes, “The faces such as police brutality, unequal sentencing, and
Asantes had Governor Charles MacCarthy’s head. They the prison-industrial complex.
were keeping it on a stick outside the Asante king’s palace Marcus, the character in the final chapter and a
as a warning to the British: this is what happens to those student at Stanford University, embodies the frustration
who defy us” (Gyasi, 2017, 88). This documents the first of American youth, especially youth of color, allowing
Asante-British War that lasted from 1823-1831 and the the text to resonate with a young audience. He seeks to
Asante nation’s fight against British presence in Ghana, write a research paper about his great-grandfather H who
which James, our character becomes wrapped up in. In worked in the coal mines but realizes his H’s life connects
the following chapter, the rise of Christian missionaries with many other stories. “The deeper he did the research,
proselytizing becomes evident when Abena speaks to the bigger the project got. How could he talk about Great-

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 Edwards - [Book Review] Homegoing

Grandpa H’s story without also talking about his grandma is quickly lost when she is ordered to board a slave
Willie and the millions of other black people who had ship to the U.S., but Effia’s is handed down through the
migrated north, fleeing Jim Crow? And if he mentioned generations. The physical passing down of a family
the Great Migration, he’d have to talk about the cities heirloom symbolizes the passing down of experience,
that took that flock in. He’d have to talk about Harlem. knowledge, and stories of ancestors — an homage to
And how could he talk about Harlem without mentioning African griotic traditions. Though some stories are
his father’s heroin addiction — the stints in prison, the lost just like Esi’s stone, the Homegoing illustrates that
criminal record?” (Gyasi, 2017, 289). Thinking about all beginning the process of learning about oneself through
the injustices his family has had to bear makes Marcus family history can start at any time — there is still time
so angry that he wants to “slam the research book on to return home. This inspiring message makes one want
the table of the beautiful but deadly silent Lane Reading to delve into one’s own family history, to visit the places
Room of Green Library of Stanford University … then where ancestors have lived, to know the events and people
everyone in the room would stare and all they would see who have made you.
would be his skin and his anger, and they’d think they
knew something about him, and it would be the same
something that had justified putting his great-grandpa H REFERENCE:
in prison, only it would be different too, less obvious than Gyasi, Y. (2017). Homegoing. New York: Alfred A. Knopp
it once was (Gyasi, 2017, 289). This passage speaks to
the racist systems that Black people in America face and
how trauma is passed down generationally.
Marcus’s internal monologue also speaks to
Gyasi’s reasons for writing Homegoing. Gyasi, born in
Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, also attended
Stanford University. With this knowledge, Marcus’s
story reads like an autobiography and his struggles with
writing a research paper on Black history whose scope
continues to expand perhaps reflects Gyasi’s own writing
frustrations and journey. Understanding Gyasi’s deep
personal connection to the story makes it clear why Gyasi
was able to depict each character with such nuanced
detail. She is telling a fictionalized version of her own
family history, based off of her experience straddling
Ghana’s and America’s two histories. Homegoing feels
like a direct answer to Marcus. It holds the interconnected
Black family history of several eras and generations
together in a way that would be virtually impossible to
do in a single research paper. While research requires a
linear analysis of facts and data, the narrative structure
allows for compassionate interpretation that can easily
loop back to important places and themes. From just
the title, we know the composition will circle us back
toward home.
Homegoming is an emotionally exhausting but
rewarding read. After understanding the hardships the
two branches of the family have endured, the conclusion
weaves the two stories together in a satisfying ending.
Though some may find the ending cliché, the celebratory
closing is well-deserved after such trauma. The book
celebrates knowing one’s history. This theme manifests
in the imagery of two sparkling black and gold stone
pendants that Effia and Esi’s mother gives them. Esi’s

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