Title: Homegoing
Author: Yaa Gyasi
No. of Pages: 394
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf for Penguin Random House LLC.
Year of Pub.: 2016
Reviewer: Halima Ahmad Katun
Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing has been described as a novel in short stories as each chapter tells a different story of a different person starting with the story of two half-sisters; Effia and Esi, who had never met and their descendants as they separately led different lives with only Esi aware of Effia’s existence. One family was split into two and each chapter told the story of a descendant from each of the two sisters until the last chapter where the last descendants from both sides met and visited the same place where it all started, ending in a somewhat anti-climactic way.
The first chapter introduces Effia the first sister, born in Fanteland at a time of Slavery and Colonial rule. She is described as very beautiful and was hated by her mother Baaba. The extreme maltreatment vetted on her and her marriage to James Collins the Governor of the Cape Coast Castle against her wish and that of her father ensured by the careful scheme plotted by her mother Baaba further confirmed this. She achieved that by ensuring that Effia’s transition to womanhood was kept a secret against tradition. It was later revealed that Baaba was in fact not Effia’s real mother but Effia was the product of an affair between her father Cobbe and a house girl who ran into the night after conceiving Effia. The only connection Effia had with her mother was a black stone which she carried with her to the castle where she finally accepted her husband and conceived a child. Effia later found out the way of the whites while staying in the castle and she got to know about a dungeon beneath it where slaves are kept and later traded overseas. The mistakes of Effia’s father in this chapter cost her a mother’s love and the loss of the person she truly wanted to marry. Effia’s marriage to James cemented the transaction between the chief of Fante land and the whites who freely conducted their slave trade without anyone batting an eye.
The second chapter reveals Esi whom Effia’s mother conceived after running away and settling in Asanteland. Esi was taken as a slave along with several others from her village in Asante land and she was transported to the Cape Coast Castle to stay with the hundreds of slaves in the dungeon below the castle. The living condition in the dungeon was described as horrific as people were piled on top of each other with no provision for people to relieve themselves of urine or excreta. The only thing Esi had from home was a black stone given to her by her mother identical to the one Effia has. Esi was later raped by a soldier and she became pregnant. She also later lost her black stone in the dungeon. This chapter proved emotional when one thinks of the fact that Effia, Esi’s sister was in fact living in a wonderful condition upstairs while her sister suffered below the castle a fate not fit even for animals. The disgusting way the slaves were treated also paints a clear picture of how Europeans viewed Africans.
The next chapter narrated the story of Quey, the half-caste son of Effia and James who was sent to school in England after his father suspected him of becoming romantically attached to another boy. He later returned back to his home as a result of the new authorities’ desire to strengthen slave trade. Quey later got married to the princess of Asante land Nana Yaa whom FiiFii his uncle kidnapped for him so Quey could become a man. This further explains the active role played by Africans in the downfall of Africa. The kidnap of Nana Yaa also portrays the sexist ways of the African man which sees that women are but playthings for the pleasure of men.
We were transported to the plantation in Europe in the next chapter where we met Ness, daughter to Esi who was a slave under a man whom she referred to as ‘the devil’. She lived the typical life of a slave with so much inhuman treatment being meted on her. One of the slaves called Sam got in trouble with ‘the devil’ and Ness claimed responsibility for it. They later got married and gave birth to baby Kojo. They set out to escape from the plantation but they were captured and Sam was killed while Ness was given an ugly scar.
The succeeding chapter narrated the story of James, the child of Quey, who got married to a girl he didn’t love. Then he traveled to his mother’s kingdom where he fell in love with Akosua whom he promised to come back to. He thereafter left all his fame and family behind and moved to a village out of town with his true love, where he became nicknamed ‘unlucky’.
The story of Kojo followed, who worked for a white man in Birmingham, along with Ma Aku and his wife, Anna. Until the fugitive Act was passed, capturing escaped slaves and returning them to their old masters. One night, Anna heavily pregnant with baby H went out and never returned. Kojo went to every length in search of her but never did. This chapter explored the fate of an African man in a European society.
The story that followed was that of Abena, the daughter of James. She was a spinster who feared she had inherited the unlucky tag given to her father. Her best friend turned lover later got her pregnant upon her return from a visit to her ancestral village. The people wanted to exile her because they believed she was the cause of a famine that had struck the village but her lover promised to find a solution to the drought and was given 7 years ultimatum. He finally got a cocoa plant, that blossomed and yielded fruit and when it came time to honor his pledge of marriage to Abena, he rejected her. Abena left to live with the missionary. The castigation of Abena by the villagers indicated ignorance and discrimination because they didn’t understand that one person could not be the cause of their dried-up lands; also thinking that she brought the curse upon them and not her male counterpart hints at misogyny and discrimination.
Then came the story of H, who found himself working in a coal mine at a time of intense racism and discrimination against blacks in Birmingham. His wife Ethe had left him for calling her with another woman’s name. While working as a prisoner in the mine, he became friends with Joecy. And after they became free, he started living under his roof until he built his home. Ethe then returned and forgave him and then she conceived.
Akua’s story followed, she was the daughter of Abena. Who grew up with the missionary and her only friend was the white priest. She later left the missionary and got married to Aramoah. Having seen a white man burnt alive under a tree, Akua began to have daydreams and nightmares with the firewoman, until while having one of such dreams, she set their hut ablaze, and burnt two of her daughters. Her handicapped husband (who lost a foot in the war), could only save their son. She later became known as the crazy woman. Akua was widely maltreated and made fun of as a result of her psychological problems.
Willie was H’s daughter and she met Robert at a union meeting where she goes to sing the anthem. H had become a spokesman at the union where they clamored for better work conditions and higher pay. Willie got married to Robert and they left Pratt city for New York. Robert later left her when she cost him his job at the jazz, where she was also a cleaner. And because of his cream-colored skin they’d assumed he was white, not until that incident when they figured him out and he moved on to marry a white lady. Robert’s actions showed discrimination even among blacks because of skin tone.
Next chapter discussed Yaw who had spent a number of years without seeing his mum. Having been taken away from her as penance for living him with a scar and was sent to a school until he became a teacher. His friend found him a house help, Esther, who finally persuaded him to go visit his mum. He reunited with the crazy woman and equally got married to Esther. Carson’s story featured in the next chapter; he was Willie’s child. Carson who preferred the name Sonny lived a wayward life taking dope with friends and he met Amani who was equally as wayward. She was one out of his many other girlfriends who each had a child for him.
Majorie was the product of Yaw and Esther’s union and they had moved to the States by the time she was born, she only went to visit her grandma (the crazy woman) in Ghana, with whom they would walk the oceans and she would tell her about the soul of their ancestors, living therein. Akua handed down the Blackstone to Majorie and told her that it has transcended generations.
Marcus was the fruit of Sonny and Amani’s union. He was pursuing his ph. D in Stanford when he met Marjorie at a club along with her friend, and there was immediate attraction. She talked him into following her to Africa telling him the last time she went was after the death of her grandma. They went on a tour to the castle, walked the dungeon and met the ocean. Where Marcus was afraid of the ocean for its expansiveness and endless blue, Majorie was scared of fire for the stories she’d heard about it.
Finally, they were entwined in the ocean and she gave Marcus the Blackstone, “welcome home” she told him. There are so many themes explored in this story including love, Family, racism, endurance, history, patriotism, Slavery, violence, rape, identity, fate among others. The story paints a vivid color of the endurance of the African man. How we were and are still being forced to settle as lesser beings in contrast to the whites. The story reflects the history of the African man and how Africans played a huge role in our own downfall. Also, history in the setting of some parts of the story namely the cape Coast Castle which actually exists including the dungeon used for keeping slaves before they are sold off. The book explores the terrible impact of slavery on the generation of an African family forcing them to go through suffering, discrimination, poverty, and loss of identity.
The book instills a soothing love for Africa with its unique and precise writing style. Each page gets you looking forward to what the fate of the descendants of the two sisters would be and skeptical about a possible reunion. A unique quality about the book is that it has its readers feeling the same emotions felt by the characters, an almost kinship relationship is formed and we find our souls intertwined. The style and manner of the book has one imagining that a story such as this is very true of a continent like Africa for we have lost so many of our kin to slavery, war, unforeseen circumstances and we could have cousins anywhere in the world in this moment without the slightest inkling to their existence. In conclusion this hypnotic novel was ambitious in its diversity and spanning a lot of years but still maintained a connection although the ending left us wanting more.
Bio
Halima Ahmad Katun hails from Niger State. She developed love for books at an early age. She recently bagged her LL.B from Ahmadu Bello University where she was an avid member and executive member of the Creative Writers’ Club, Kongo. She is also a staunch member of the Hill-top Creative Arts’ Foundation. She holds strong views on human rights, feminism, gender inequality and violence.
