Author: Bookish Matters

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Published by: Bond Street Books a division of Penguin Randon House Canada Limited

Published on: June 7th 2016

Pages: 305

Historical, Literary Fiction

Purchase: Amazon   Book Depository      Chapters

Summary                          

Homegoing is a profound generational saga following the descendants of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi. The sisters live in different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana where Effia is married off to British slave trader and Esi is sold into slavery. The British colonization of Ghana and war between villages will shape the descendants of Effia’s and the affects of slavery and racial discrimination will shape Esi’s.

Characters                         

Each chapter is from a different characters perspective, so in total their are 14 characters.  Yaa Gyasi is a skillful writer to create such real characters in such a short time we spend with them. Obviously I not going to give an overview and my thoughts on all of them but I thought it is important that I do Effia and Esi.

• Effia Otcher was born on the same night a fire raged her village and because of that the villagers say she was born of the fire. She grows up unloved and beaten by her mother and the beatings are only made worse as she grows more beautiful and eventually is known as Effia the beauty. She is an obedient daughter despite her mother’s beatings and always tries to make herself seem small as to not be noticed. I liked Effia’s character and felt for her and her terrible living situation.
• Esi Asare birth was greatly celebrated by her parents and grew up in the warmth of her parents love. Esi is spoiled by he parents love but remains sweet. I also liked Esi character and would have liked to kept on reading her story.

My Thoughts                       

I listened to the audiobook and read along with the narrator because I wanted to get the names correct, I knew I wouldn’t be able to pronounce them correctly even though it is just in my head. I did like this approach to reading the story even though that is the reason why it took me so long to finish. I started this back in April and finished it in June, for whatever reason I found it difficult to set a time to put the disc in and read. So, it wasn’t because I wasn’t enjoying the book because I did, very much so. I believe this is the type of book you take your time with anyways, to allow yourself to be fully immersed into the story.

Homegoing is not your typical novel, there are two veins to the story, and each vein flows into one short story, following a different generation to the next And even though each descendant’s story is complete and is wrapped up nicely to get to the heart of the story the book must be read as a whole. It is ambitious to write a novel like this for any writer but especially a debut one but Yaa Gyasi executes it like a pro.

“I love my people, James,” she said, and his name on her tongue was indescribably sweet. “I am proud to be Asante, as I am sure you are proud to be Fante, but after I lost my brothers, I decided that as for me, Akosua, I will be my own nation.”

Cons

• I would have liked to have seen a date at the beginning of eachchapter. That way you know what time period you will be in before you start reading that characters story.
• Since each chapter is a new POV you don’t get to spend much time with the characters as much as I would have liked to have.
• The ending was a little too perfect and Hollywood-esque but I don’t hate it.

“The white man’s god is just like the white man. He thinks he is the only god, just like the white man thinks he is the only man. But the only reason he is god instead of Nyame or Chukwu or whoever is because we let him be. We do not fight him. We do not question him. The white man told us he was the way, and we said yes, but when has the white man ever told us something was good for us and that thing was really good?”

Pros

• I loved the writing style. She is a natural and I was captivated by every word.
• I thought that each character’s narrative was well done. I never felt confused by who descendant it was. And even though I could have kept reading their story I thought that each chapter ended perfectly.
• Even though it is a slower paced novel I never felt bored and interested in reading the next generations story.
• I appreciate that the author was able to write a story about slavery and racial issues without sounding preachy
• It is a strong and impactful novel that often times had me in tears by the injustice of it all.

“What I know now, my son: Evil begets evil. It grows. It transmutes, so that sometimes you cannot see that the evil in the world began as the evil in your own home.”

It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel, it is well crafted and a beautiful work of literature. I highly recommend you pick this book up if you haven’t already.

4.5 Stars

Bookish Matters

The Nightmare by Lars Keplar (Translated by Laura A. Wideburg)

Series: Joona Linna #2

Published by: McClelland & Stewart(First Published by Paganinikontraktet)

Published:July 3rd 2012 (First Published 2010)

Pages: 500

Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Nordic Noir

Purchase: Book Depository Amazon

Summary                                                      

Detective Inspector Joona Linna has received two calls for a couple of suspicious deaths, one for a suicide and the other for a young women who drowned. Others might think this is an open and shut case but Joona believes something more sinister is at hand.

Characters                                                     

Since, this is told in third person omniscient we are introduced to several characters in this book but I am only going to focus on the following three characters.

• Joona Linna is a detective inspector with the National Criminal Investigation Department in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nightmare is the second in the series and I feel like I should know Joona better but you know very little about him. He is Finnish and he is held in high esteem for his ability take one look at a crime scene and know exactly what happened. Oh and he is always right.
• Penelope Fernandez is a peace activist who finds herself caught up in tragic and murderous events. I liked Penelope, she is smart and strong-willed.
• Axel Riessen a former violin prodigy who now is the General Director for National Inspectorate of Strategic Products. He also is an insomniac with a liver condition. I found Axel to be an interesting character as well as his “relationship” with Beverly.

Continue reading “The Nightmare by Lars Keplar” →