Seattle Reads 2018: 'Homegoing' Community Reading Group Starts March 1
release date: February 20, 2018
The Seattle Public Library invites readers to come learn a bit more about this year's Seattle Reads selection, "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1 at the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), 2300 South Massachusetts St., 206-518-6000.
Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required. Copies of the book are available at the first meeting. This reading group will continue to meet from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month on April 5 and May 3 at NAAM.
"Homegoing" follows the parallel paths of two sisters, born in Ghana in the 18th century, each unaware of the other. One marries an Englishman and leads a life of comfort. The other is captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned and enslaved.
We meet their descendants through eight generations and two continents: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. This extraordinary novel illuminates slavery's troubled legacy, both for those who were taken and those who stayed, and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation.
"Homegoing" was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, as well as a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book. It was named One of the Best Books of the Year by Oprah.com, NPR, Time, Entertainment Weekly and Esquire.
This event is presented in partnership with NAAM.