I've long been interested in genealogy and recently started thinking about writing a book pulling together stories of my ancestors. I've also been interested in the history of African-Americans.

Gyasi combines both of these in a powerful historical novel, tracing the descendants of a woman in Ghana. The story explores the interaction between tribes in Ghana, the white man, the slave trade, slavery in America, and experiences of African Americans after slavery.

The story flows together very nicely, and is a book I recommend to my friends. I am also interested in how it fits together with other books I've read recently, those by James Baldwin, Colson Whitehead, and Resmaa Menakem