Format: ebook

Homegoing is a very short novella which tells the story of Ferreh Musu, returning home to Sierra Leone having fled to Guinea during the civil war.

Homegoing caught my eye firstly because I hadn’t read a book by a Sierra Leonean author before, and I’m a strong believer that we as a community have overlooked African writers as a whole for far too long.

I found this book quite difficult to review, not because it’s bad - quite the opposite - but because in its brief telling this story touches on vast and deeply uncomfortable territory.

Homegoing is frank, almost matter-of fact in its depiction of the horrors of war. There isn’t a single character introduced that doesn’t bear the scars (psychological or physical) of the civil war.

At the beginning of the story, Ferreh Musu is settled in Guinea living a good life as a teacher. The first section details her return to Sierra Leone and her original home in Freetown, and it is permeated with a sharp sense of heartache. Trauma and nostalgia form an uncomfortable pair as Ferreh Musu finds her old family home, once bombed and destroyed, rebuilt as a supermarket. The physical place has moved on, but it is made painfully clear that the hearts and minds of the people have not.

The second half of the book I found more difficult to process. Ferreh Musu tracks down a familiar face to the town of Makeni, where she begins to settle old scores. A lot happens in a very short space of time, and as a reader I felt I did not have sufficient time to digest.

It is difficult to describe this without giving spoilers, but this half serves to demonstrate that war can make a monster of anyone, and the cycle of violence leaves no innocent victims.

I am glad I read Homegoing, as it tells an uncomfortably human story, and I say ‘uncomfortably’ in the most positive way. I only wish there was more breathing room.

Review by Dai Baddley

I received this free ARC in exchange for a review.