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Lois Boateng, Social Media Editor

I had always heard about this book called “Homegoing,” by the Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, but I never actually got the chance to read it.  

I was eventually gifted the book by my aunt, who is a book fanatic and is always recommending different ones to me. I recently gained a strong interest in reading African literature. So, I was excited to finally pick up a book written by an African author and explore a story connected to African history.  

“Homegoing” follows the descendants of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, who are born in eighteenth-century Ghana. Both sisters grew up in completely different circumstances.  

They both share the same mother, Maame, but the two sisters never knew each other. Effia is married off to a British slave trader and lives in Cape Coast Castle, while Esi is captured and imprisoned in the dungeons to be sent off to be a slave in America.   

Reading this story stood out to me, especially as a Ghanaian; I have family who are also British, which made some parts of the story feel even more personal and complicated for me. I found myself thinking about how two different parts of my background are connected to a history that is not always easy to talk about.  

In school, we learned about colonization and its effects, but reading a book like “Homegoing” allowed me to see the fictional history. Instead of only learning about facts and historical events, I was able to see how these experiences affected people’s lives, families and identities.  

What I found most interesting while reading was how the book made history feel personal to me. I have actually visited the Cape Coast Castle in Accra before, so reading about Esi being held in the dungeons made me think of my own experience.  

In the castle, the dungeons had a very strong, distinct smell that was insufferable. Even in the reading, it says, “the smell was unbearable” when describing the conditions inside the dungeon.  

Reading that line shook mem because I know that smell. This line made me think of my own family and what happened during colonization, when families were innocently taken and shipped to America and different places for slavery.  

This book thus draws a lot of connections to identity. While reading, I started thinking more about my own identity as a Ghanaian and what it means to know where I come from. I think sometimes I take my background for granted, because being Ghanaian is just a part of who I am.    

Overall, I enjoyed reading “Homegoing.” I will say this book keeps you in a loop; it’s like a thriller. You meet so many different characters throughout it, and by the end you realize that everyone is connected in some way or somehow related.  

The story follows different generations and shows how their lives connect back to the original family. I liked how the connections between the characters slowly became clear. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and stories about family, identity and history.