Books: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yaa Gyasi's "Homegoing" explores the slave trade and its impact over the generations from the 18th-century British Gold Coast colony to modern-day Ghana. Each chapter in this ambitious novel is from the point of view of one of the descendants of half-sisters and the stories are linked by a pendant passed down by families. Highly recommended.

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Books: A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates

A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was my first Joyce Carol Oates novel and it's a difficult read beginning with the lives of "white trash" migrant farmworkers in the United States. Teenager Clara somehow escapes this depressing life and finds herself torn between her unreliable saviour Lowry and lover Curt Revere. Her son Swan cuts a tragic figure. Protagonist Clara is a strong yet almost unlikeable character in a novel that takes a harsh look at the difference between the social classes. I would have given it more stars and it probably isn't Oates' fault, but Swan's story in the third part just didn't resonate with me.

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