The Missive Book Club: "Homegoing"

Zoom details plus discussion questions to chew on

Greetings from Mexico City. I hope you’re all enjoying this month’s book club selection, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

I personally loved it and devoured the book in under a week. I think they way every chapter told the story of a different character helped me read each of them to completion, moving me through the story.

And even though I consider myself pretty well-versed on African-American history for a white dude, this novel brought home certain aspects of the black experience for me in ways that documentaries or history books couldn’t. The stories of Ness & Sam, then Kojo and Anna were especially poignant.

I’m looking forward to speaking with you on the live Zoom call a week from Thursday. Below are some discussion questions to help guide our conversation. Feel free to comment on them below or save your thoughts for the Zoom call.

Zoom details at the bottom of the page. March’s book club pick will be announced on Thursday. What should we read next? Comment below.

Best,

Marko

Homegoing Discussion Questions

1. What did you think about the structure of the novel, with each chapter following a different descendant of the two sisters? Did it add to or detract from the story?

2. How did the different settings in the novel (Ghana, the American South, Harlem) affect the experiences of the characters? How do they affect the two lineages of the family differently? What experiences were universal?

3. How does the novel portray the legacy of slavery and colonialism, both in Africa and America? Did the novel make you think about these issues in a new way?

4. Which of the characters’ stories did you find the most compelling? The least?

5. How does the concept of "homegoing" (the belief that upon death, an enslaved person's spirit would return to Africa) play a role in the novel? How does this belief connect different characters and generations?

6. Discuss the relationships between mothers and daughters throughout the novel. How do these relationships evolve over time? Why did the author structure the novel around this maternal line?

7. How does the novel depict the experience of passing, or pretending to be white? How does this affect the characters who engage in passing?

8. Discuss the theme of identity in the novel. How do the characters grapple with questions of identity and belonging?

9. What threads tie together all the different stories? How does this help create a unified narrative?

10. How does the novel end? Do you feel that it offers hope or despair for the characters and their descendants?

Zoom Discussion Details

The Missive Book Club: "Homegoing"

Date: Thursday, March 9, 2023

Time: 3PM LAX // 5PM CDMX // 6PM NYC