I now understand the hype surrounding this million dollar (literally and figuratively) debut novel. It is awe inspiring how Gyasi creates an epic story in just over 300 pages. It is essentially a collection of interconnected short stories that tell a much bigger story. The book spans seven generations of the descendants of two Ghanaian half sisters, one who is married to a white slave trader and one who is sold into slavery. The narration switches back and forth between one member of Effia and Esi's families as we hear from each new generation, and as I got further and further along their family tree, I kept flipping back to the chart at the beginning. At first I felt a little frustrated at trying to remember who belonged to whom. I have to wonder if it was somewhat difficult to keep the families straight on purpose. Like so very many descendants of slaves, most of the characters had absolutely no way to trace their own family roots, no chart to look upon. So I did not look at it again and just immersed myself in each story. I was overwhelmed with emotion as it came together in the end - poignant and beautifully. Truly a must read.

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