The novel Homegoing, is an eye-opening story that depicts an unflinching portrayal of the slave trade exports in the 18th century and its contrasting impacts down the generations. Gyasi conveys these struggles by sharing the stories of two half-sisters (and their descendants), Effia and Esi, one who married a wealthy English man and the other who was sold into slavery, representing how slavery destroyed one line of the family while it cursed the other. Throughout the story, Gyasi uses vivid imagery to express the disparate lifestyles of the sisters and their future generations. Through the contrasting experiences of the sisters and their descendants depicted by imagery and setting, the disparity and impact of the slave trade is illustrated in this novel.
I really enjoyed this book because it brought to light not only the external, but also the internal struggles of the people involved in the slave trade and the inequality towards black people over a long period of time. Although I really enjoyed the unique structure this book uses to discuss one character from each sister’s generation for each chapter of the book, I feel like this format made the characters and their stories lose some urgency and importance as the story goes on. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to read an informative, yet emotional and turning story about historic events and their impacts on people even today.