Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel that spans 300 years of one family's history in Ghana and America. The novel goes back and forth between two branches of the family tree, each chapter skipping to the next generation. Written in this style, the book felt more like a series of connected short stories than a novel; each time I grew interested in a character, the story moved on to another completely new character.
What Gyasi set out to accomplish was enormous, and I'm not sure she was entirely successful. The book has moments of brilliance, and is worth checking out for a deeper understanding of Ghanaian culture. However, as far as a good story goes, there is very little redemption here, and never a chance to get to know any of the characters enough to deeply care about them.
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