Title: Homegoing
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
In this book, we follow two sisters with very different destinies - one sister is sold into slavery, the other marries a slaver - and the destinies of all their descendants for seven generations.
Review:
As I'm sure you're aware of, there's been quite a lot of buzz around this book lately, which always makes me slightly wary of a book, even before I start it. However, after having finished this, I'd say it's well deserving of its hype.
I found the culture and the history in this book to be fantastic, and it's quite an epic book in many ways. The writing is good, if not astonishing, and I felt it captured the different times well. The concept itself of capturing portraits of the different generations is wonderful and I think it's well executed. It deals with important issues in a new and interesting way, even if perhaps not perfectly.
I do wish we'd had more time with each of the characters though. It didn't bother me all that much in the earlier chapters, but the further I got into the book, the more disconnected I felt. Although I can understand why the author and publisher might have chosen to keep this book on the shorter side, I think having it be twice as long, if not more, would've taken it to a completely different level.
It's a rather remarkable debut though, rich and deep, and definitely worth the read for everyone who loves historical and literary fiction.
You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
In this book, we follow two sisters with very different destinies - one sister is sold into slavery, the other marries a slaver - and the destinies of all their descendants for seven generations.
Review:
As I'm sure you're aware of, there's been quite a lot of buzz around this book lately, which always makes me slightly wary of a book, even before I start it. However, after having finished this, I'd say it's well deserving of its hype.
I found the culture and the history in this book to be fantastic, and it's quite an epic book in many ways. The writing is good, if not astonishing, and I felt it captured the different times well. The concept itself of capturing portraits of the different generations is wonderful and I think it's well executed. It deals with important issues in a new and interesting way, even if perhaps not perfectly.
I do wish we'd had more time with each of the characters though. It didn't bother me all that much in the earlier chapters, but the further I got into the book, the more disconnected I felt. Although I can understand why the author and publisher might have chosen to keep this book on the shorter side, I think having it be twice as long, if not more, would've taken it to a completely different level.
It's a rather remarkable debut though, rich and deep, and definitely worth the read for everyone who loves historical and literary fiction.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
*AFFILIATE LINK
