Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi, a Ghanaian-American author, published her first historical fiction novel, Homegoing, in 2016. Each chapter of the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, beginning with her two half-sister daughters, Effia and Esi, who are separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is imprisoned in the dungeons below. Following chapters follow their children and subsequent generations.

Effia and Esi are half-sisters born in Ghana in the 18th century. Their paths diverge when one is sold into slavery and the other marries a slaver. Homegoing follows their descendants through eight generations, from the Gold Coast to Mississippi plantations, from Ghanaian missionary schools to Jazz Age Harlem. Gyasi shares Morrison's ability to crystallize the ramifications of slavery, but she is unique in her ability to connect it to the present day, demonstrating how racism has become institutionalized. Homegoing is a searing historical fiction debut from a masterful new Black author, epic in scope but intimate in portraiture.

Link to read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27071490