Homegoing (Gyasi novel)
hardcover dustjacket (1st ed.) | |
| Author | Yaa Gyasi |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Peter Mendelsund |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Published | 2016 (Penguin Random House) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 320 pp. (1st edition) |
| ISBN | 978-1-10194-713-5 |
Homegoing is the debut historical fiction novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, published in 2016. Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting in the 18th Century with her two daughters, who are half-sisters, separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held captive in the dungeons below. Subsequent chapters follow their children and following generations.
The novel was selected in 2016 for the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book, and was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2017. It received the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for 2017, an American Book Award, and the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature.