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Homegoing tells the story of seven generations of a family split in two: One side remains in Africa while the other is brought to America on a slave ship. The novel begins from the perspective of two sisters who are unaware of each other, yet their lives are largely similar until a twist of fate sends one to live in luxury at the Cape Coast Castle and the other to be imprisoned in the dungeon of that same castle. Effia, who has been abused by the woman she believes to be her mother for her entire life, is sent to marry a British governor instead of marrying the village chief as promised by her father. Though Effia does not have much power under these circumstances, her marriage makes her and her descendants complicit in the slave trade. Her sister, Esi, has a privileged childhood, much like Effia. However, after trying to reunite her enslaved house girl with the girl’s father, Esi is captured, enslaved, and sent to America. For the next six generations, each of their descendants will grapple with how where they came from affects who they are and how they can break the cycle of trauma and suffering that has plagued each member of their family.

The inciting incident of the novel occurs when Maame—Effia and Esi’s mother—sets the fire that allows her to escape captivity in Fanteland. Effia is then left to be cared for by a resentful Baaba, who essentially exiles Effia from her home by forcing her marriage to James Collins. The fire will continue to represent Effia’s family’s legacy in the slave trade, even as her descendants try to leave it behind. This incident is also what leads to the birth of Esi, who is sent to America on a slave ship. Esi’s descendants will feel the pain that is passed down to each generation under slavery, imprisonment, institutional racism, and drug addiction. Effia’s side retains a physical reminder of generations that came before in the form of the black stone pendant left behind for her by Maame. This also serves as a reminder of the crimes that plague the family. However, Esi was unable to bring the black stone pendant on the slave ship with her, which condemns her descendants to never truly know their family’s history.

The rising action of the novel occurs as each family member attempts to improve their station in life, only to meet barriers that often prevent this. For those who remain in Africa, these barriers come in the form of colonization, which they find difficult to fully escape. Even when James breaks away from his family’s business in the slave trade, his daughter Abena must seek out a Christian missionary school when she becomes pregnant. She is then drowned when the missionary is trying to baptize her, showing how colonization has devastating consequences even when done with supposedly good intentions. Abena’s daughter, Akua, then cannot escape dreams representing her family’s crimes, showing how the legacy of slavery lingers long after it is gone. Meanwhile, Esi’s descendants in America struggle to break the cycle of generational trauma as well. Even after the Civil War, Black men like H are targeted and imprisoned, enslaved once again in the mines instead of a plantation. Even though H is able to create a better life for his family, his grandson, Sonny, becomes addicted to heroin, showing how difficult it is to fully escape the oppression of systemic racism.

However, with support from family, each side is eventually able to make peace with their family’s past. Akua, who unintentionally killed her two daughters by setting fire to their hut, understands that there was evil in her family’s lineage. By facing this evil, she is able to find peace and forgiveness from her son, Yaw. Sonny, addicted to heroin, decides to get clean after learning the truth about why his father abandoned him. Both cases show how seeing the past clearly can help people more fully understand their own identity.

The climax of Homegoing occurs when Effia’s and Esi’s final descendants, Marjorie and Marcus, meet at Stanford. Marjorie and Marcus are unaware of their relation yet feel at home with each other, exploring each side’s history. In Ghana, back at the castle where Effia and Esi briefly lived in the same place, Marjorie and Marcus encourage each other to face their fears. In Marjorie’s case, it is fire, the element that burned her grandmother and father and that haunted her family for so long. In Marcus’s case, it is water, the element that took Esi and so many other enslaved people from their home. As they face these fears and as Marjorie gives Marcus Effia’s pendant, both branches of the family have reunited and made peace, giving hope for the fates of generations to come.

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