Book Review: Homegoing- Yaa Gyasi
The story of two generations stemming from two sisters. One sister forced into slavery and the other the wife of a slave trader. We are taken through the generations that come from them, and each generation's continued yet unique forms of trauma rooted in colonialism, slavery, genocide and racism.
First and foremost, the language and description within this book really grabs the essence of storytelling. Images so vivid, you're confronted with the pain and suffering these characters experience, through, most importantly, no fault of their own, through the violence surrounding their time continued by the powers that be. Whilst each generation is faced with its own unique set of challenges, each generation’s trauma is intimately tied to the one before it. Even though we manage to go through several generations, no ones story felt rushed or overlooked.
By going through the different directions those generations take, Gyasi highlights something quite important in my opinion. She highlights that problems that minorities face today, whether it be lack of access to education and healthcare, to drug abuse and criminalisation, lack of access to adequate nutrition, housing and much more, is not acontextual or accidental. The sentiment that underpins these issues are the same sentiments that allowed colonisers to loot and pillage from across the world and leave populations in chaos, poverty and suffering.
Having said that, the book ends with a feeling of hope. Through the later generations of Marcus and Marjorie, there is a hope to rebuild and perhaps even break the cycle of epigenetic trauma.
Overall, highly recommend.
