Suggested Further Reading: Nonfiction
A selection of nonfiction, hand-picked by our librarians, that address some of the themes covered in Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
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Barracoon
Not published until 2018, Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the slave ship Clotilda, was interviewed by Hurston in 1927 and again in 1931. Hurston brilliantly illuminates the tragedy of slavery and one life forever defined by it and offers insight into the legacy that continues to haunt us all.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Black Calhouns
Gail Lumet Calhoun, daughter of actress Lena Horne, delves deeply into her family history, detailing the experiences of an African American Family from Civil War to civil rights.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Daisy Turner's Kin
Jane Beck began to interview Daisy Turner, then one hundred years old, and still relating four generations of her family’s history. Beck uses Turner’s storytelling to build the Turner family saga of abduction into slavery of their African ancestors, her family’s life in Vermont and Daisy’s childhood stand against racism.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Dreams of Africa in Alabama
The slave ship Cloltida brought 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria to the shore of Alabama in 1860, more than 50 years after the United States legally abolished the international slave trade. We follow life in West Africa, the passage to America and the time in slavery. After emancipation, the group reunited from various plantations and founded Africa Town, where many descendants still live.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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In Search of the Promised Land
Portrait of the extended Thomas-Rapier family from before the Civil War and as they travel across antebellum America seeking a place where African Americans would be treated with respect. A compelling narrative that illuminates the larger themes of slavery and freedom.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Though the Heavens May Fall
A gripping narrative of the 1772 London trial of James Somerset, rescued from a ship bound for the West Indies slave markets. The unexpected decision, by a conservative judge, Lord Mansfield, led to the end of the African slave trade and abolition of slavery, both in England and in the United States.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Twelve Years A Slave
Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was abducted in 1841 and spent the next 12 years of his life as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, he published this vivid, eloquent and detailed account of slave life.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Two Princes of Calabar
This is a rare glimpse of the 18th century slave trade from an African perspective. It takes us through the trading communities along the coast of Africa and follows the movement of goods, people and ideas around and across the Atlantic.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Door of No Return
The riveting history of Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, the African headquarters of the British slave trade for nearly one hundred and fifty years before legal trade was abolished in 1807.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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