This debut novel is impressive for both its scope and the talent of its author, Yaa Gyasi. It is the story of two African half sisters, unknown to each other, whose descendants are followed through three hundred years. One branch begins with slave trafficking in Africa by both blacks and whites, while the other branch eventually ends up in America. Their powerful, inter-linked stories are told in separate chapters with characterizations and circumstances that are unflinching. It is a remarkable undertaking from a talent that will surely continue to soar.

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This book tells the tale of 2 sisters born in Asanteland and how, through circumstance, their descendants live completely different lives on different continents. The book is written in alternating chapters, the odd for the African side of the family and the even for the American side. My favorite was the African as we have heard so many stories told from the American slave point of view. The African stories were so interesting. Because each chapter covered one person/generation the characters were not as developed as they could be but that book would be twice as long. I hope Yaa decides to write stories about the most interesting people in her stories like Yaa or H. They were my favorites. My favorite chapter was about a town in the south built up around the coal mines. The mines were worked by black and white criminals. In this town every man was equal and had to work together or die. This is where H spent a good portion of his life.

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Well worth the read! The story was fast paced- yet thorough. The author conveyed the heart and soul of each character without over-writing and needless description. The story spans several generations with ease yet captures the struggles each character faces.

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This sweeping and powerful novel follows eight generations of descendents of Esi and Effia, half sisters born in 18th century Ghana. Told in alternating chapters, meet a relative of each through generations continuing into the present. It's an awesome yet put together tale that describes how lives of family members affect those of the future. In an oral telling writing style, the twenty page vignettes describe how slavery affects those left in Ghana and those whose lives take them to America. A family tree helps readers follow the story. So, who were these women?

Effia grew up under the guidance of Baaba, her step mother who resented her. Recognized as the beauty of the village, Baaba sells Effia to the British where she becomes the âwifeâ of an English governor and slave trader, who left his legal wife in England. A black stone polished by fire from which she survived is the sole memory of her previous life.

Esi Asare lived in a nearby village. She is a slave taken during a tribal war and eventually finds herself on a plantation in America. She, too, has a black stone that was given to her by Maame, her mother, Her mother lost her first daughter in a fire. Sisters, her mother says, are always connected by what happens to them.

The women live different lives yet both are enslaved. Effia resides in a castle in luxury as a prominent man's mistress. Esi's life is marked by deprivation, poverty, violence and hard work. Policies of the two countries likewise mold their lives. This is a fascinating history told through generations of a family with flawlessly written pages laden with detail. So many that one needs to read this book for oneself. It's that good.

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