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Summary of Homegoing: By Yaa Gyasi - Includes Analysis
Summary of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - Includes Analysis
Preview
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel in stories about the Atlantic slave trade and its aftermath. The novel begins with the stories of two African half-sisters of the Fante and Asante tribes: Effia and Esi. Effia is born in the late eighteenth century in Fanteland on Africa's Gold Coast, on the night of a devastating fire near her father's compound. Her adoptive mother, Baaba, immediately resents her, because Effia is the daughter of her father Cobbe's house girl.
In 1775, when Effia is young, British soldiers from the Cape Coast Castle come to the village. Effia wants to marry Abeeku Badu, who is in line to be chief. But to prevent Effia from marrying him, Baaba tells Effia that she must hide the blood from her first period. She knows that as long as people think Effia is premenstrual, she won't be permitted to marry a Fante man, per tribal customs...
PLEASE NOTE: This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.
Inside this Instaread Summary of Homegoing:
- Summary of the Book
- Important People
- Character Analysis
- Analysis of the Themes and Author's Style
About the Author
With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.
Preview
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel in stories about the Atlantic slave trade and its aftermath. The novel begins with the stories of two African half-sisters of the Fante and Asante tribes: Effia and Esi. Effia is born in the late eighteenth century in Fanteland on Africa's Gold Coast, on the night of a devastating fire near her father's compound. Her adoptive mother, Baaba, immediately resents her, because Effia is the daughter of her father Cobbe's house girl.
In 1775, when Effia is young, British soldiers from the Cape Coast Castle come to the village. Effia wants to marry Abeeku Badu, who is in line to be chief. But to prevent Effia from marrying him, Baaba tells Effia that she must hide the blood from her first period. She knows that as long as people think Effia is premenstrual, she won't be permitted to marry a Fante man, per tribal customs...
PLEASE NOTE: This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.
Inside this Instaread Summary of Homegoing:
- Summary of the Book
- Important People
- Character Analysis
- Analysis of the Themes and Author's Style
About the Author
With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.
28 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2016
27 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Instaread Summaries
926 books294 followersWith Instaread, you can get the summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 20, 2025
I bought this book to use as a guide with several students I had read this book as a book club. I personally think everyone should read this book. It shows the United States history from the victim’s perspective. The characters are well developed and an inspiration in strength and integrity. One of my top 5 all time favorite books. This guide helped me direct students in seeing the depth of the novel.
May 9, 2017
Needed this to make better sense of the book.
January 20, 2018
Wonderful first novel by a recent african immigrant to the US. Very interesting history contrasting narratives of two lines of descendants of an african family on both sides of the Atlantic.
Read
December 31, 2021Quit reading after a chapter or two many months ago.
February 2, 2022
Iv'e read this book it was good and i completely understood it.
July 10, 2016
The institution of the slave trade from Africa to the Americas is both simple and extremely complex. It is simple because it was based solely on economics. As the Europeans colonized North America, there was a chronic labor shortage and the cheapest way to do this was to import enslaved Africans. In Africa, a tribe could engage in a raid on another tribe and capture people to be sold to the British as slaves. This was very profitable for the tribe that engaged in the raid, but it destroyed the social structure.
Slavery and its aftermath is also very complex because it pitted African tribe against tribe, with the British colonial administration controlling it. Free black persons lived within the structure of the slave trade, no doubt witnessing the plight of people in chains being loaded on ships for transport. The aftermath of slavery led to explicit and implicit segregation that exists a century and a half after slavery was violently ended.
This is a work of fiction and very complex. After reading the section summarizing the book I had the feeling that a fast talking auctioneer had delivered the explanation. A lot is packed into the summary, if you read it at your normal reading pace you likely will emerge uncertain as to the characters, but not about the point of the book. It is an attempt to encapsulate most aspects of the slave trade into one book of fiction, a goal almost impossible to achieve.
There are also many characters in the novel, as it spans many generations. The most obvious conclusion from reading the summary is that the author of the novel simply tries to do too much in one book.
This book was made available for free for review purposes.
Slavery and its aftermath is also very complex because it pitted African tribe against tribe, with the British colonial administration controlling it. Free black persons lived within the structure of the slave trade, no doubt witnessing the plight of people in chains being loaded on ships for transport. The aftermath of slavery led to explicit and implicit segregation that exists a century and a half after slavery was violently ended.
This is a work of fiction and very complex. After reading the section summarizing the book I had the feeling that a fast talking auctioneer had delivered the explanation. A lot is packed into the summary, if you read it at your normal reading pace you likely will emerge uncertain as to the characters, but not about the point of the book. It is an attempt to encapsulate most aspects of the slave trade into one book of fiction, a goal almost impossible to achieve.
There are also many characters in the novel, as it spans many generations. The most obvious conclusion from reading the summary is that the author of the novel simply tries to do too much in one book.
This book was made available for free for review purposes.
July 9, 2016
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a generational novel about two families, from 1775 to the beginning of the 21st century, and how their lives were were impacted by the Atlantic slave trade. The author’s belief is that history is storytelling, and storytelling is always a political act. Her aim with this novel was to tell the story of African-Americans from a different viewpoint than is usually found in our history books.
Summary of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi by Instaread offers an in depth analysis of this novel, with a breakdown of main themes and characters and a discussion of the author’s writing style. This summary can be read in about 15 minutes and is an excellent way to get a good sense of a book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
Summary of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi by Instaread offers an in depth analysis of this novel, with a breakdown of main themes and characters and a discussion of the author’s writing style. This summary can be read in about 15 minutes and is an excellent way to get a good sense of a book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
December 14, 2016
great book
February 18, 2025
awesome
April 12, 2019
Short and sweet.
March 30, 2017
Excellent writing. Eye opening and all at once, heart wrenching.
March 30, 2017
WHOA. A multi-generation story of one family split into two than restored to one again.
I listened to this book and the man (can't remember the name...) who performed it was excellent. I listened to all 12 hours in 2 days.
I listened to this book and the man (can't remember the name...) who performed it was excellent. I listened to all 12 hours in 2 days.
January 4, 2018
best book read so far this year. this is a captivating intergenerational intercontinental story with a rich narrative from pre-colonial slavery to the modern day. It is a rich tapestry of the history of African decedent through a fictional lens with great prose and syntax. A must read!
October 20, 2017
Inspiring.
May 14, 2018
I loved this book! It was a challenge to keep the characters straight and which generation was which but it was well worth the effort. I look forward to the next book by Yaa Gyasi.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews