Homegoing

NEA Big Read selection for 2023.

Spanning three continents and eight generations, Yaa Gyasi’s critically acclaimed, debut novel Homegoing begins with two Ghanaian sisters in the 18th century who lead parallel, yet divergent lives: one stays in Ghana and becomes a wealthy slave trader’s wife; one is sold into slavery and sent to America. The novel follows the lives of their descendants—from Ghana’s beaches to the plantations of Mississippi, the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem—offering an essential examination of power and privilege, memory and legacy. It’s “intelligent…and healing…destined to become a classic” (author Zadie Smith), “a beautiful story” (The Daily Show host and author Trevor Noah). “No novel has better illustrated the way in which racism became institutionalized in this country” (Vogue). “When people talk about all the things fiction can teach its readers, they’re talking about books like this” (Marie Claire).