Historical fiction · Similar reads
Books like Homegoing
The best books like Homegoing are The Underground Railroad, The Warmth of Other Suns, and Between the World and Me. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is about generational trauma, the african diaspora, slavery and its long aftermath. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Underground Railroad
01
Colson Whitehead · Historical fiction
The Underground Railroad takes a central metaphor of American history — the network of safe houses and abolitionists that helped enslaved people flee north — and makes it literal: Colson Whitehead imagines the railroad as an actual underground train system, with tunnels, platforms, and conductors.
A kindred historical fiction read.
Read the summary → - The Warmth of Other Suns
02
Isabel Wilkerson · Memoir
Isabel Wilkerson's account of the Great Migration — the movement of six million Black Americans from the South to the North and West between 1915 and 1970 — is one of the most important works of narrative nonfiction published in the twenty-first century.
A kindred historical fiction read.
Read the summary → - Between the World and Me
03
Ta-Nehisi Coates · Memoir
Between the World and Me is a letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son, Samori, about what it means to live in a Black body in the United States.
A kindred historical fiction read.
Read the summary → - Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
04
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ibram X. Kendi · History
Stamped from the Beginning is Ibram X.
A kindred historical fiction read.
Read the summary → - Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
05
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Trevor Noah · Memoir
Born a Crime is Trevor Noah's memoir about growing up mixed-race in South Africa during the final years of apartheid and its chaotic aftermath.
A kindred historical fiction read.
Read the summary → - Pachinko
06
Min Jin Lee · Historical fiction
Pachinko follows four generations of a Korean family from a small fishing village in early twentieth-century Korea to Osaka and Yokohama in postwar Japan.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary → - East of Eden
07
John Steinbeck · Literary fiction
East of Eden is Steinbeck's self-declared masterwork, a long and ambitious novel published in 1952 that traces two families — the Trasks and the Hamiltons — across two generations in California's Salinas Valley.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary → - Hello Beautiful
08
Ann Napolitano · Literary fiction
Hello Beautiful follows four generations of the Padavano family, beginning in Chicago in the 1920s and ending in the early 2000s.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary → - Shutter Island
09
Dennis Lehane · Thriller
It is 1954, and U.S.
Both dig into complicity and guilt.
Read the summary → - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
10
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Díaz · Literary fiction
Oscar Wao is an overweight Dominican American nerd from New Jersey who wants nothing more than to find love and write fantasy novels.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary → - The House of the Spirits
11
Isabel Allende · Literary fiction
The House of the Spirits begins with Clara del Valle, a clairvoyant child who stops speaking for nine years after a family tragedy and grows up to become the center of a sprawling Chilean family chronicle.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary → - The Joy Luck Club
12
Amy Tan · Literary fiction
The Joy Luck Club is structured around a mahjong game.
Both dig into generational trauma.
Read the summary →
Books like Homegoing: quick answers
What are the best books like Homegoing?
The best books like Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi are The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Homegoing, such as generational trauma, the african diaspora, slavery and its long aftermath.
What should I read after Homegoing?
A natural next read after Homegoing is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. A kindred historical fiction read. Other strong choices are The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi.
What books are similar to Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi?
Homegoing centers on generational trauma, the african diaspora, slavery and its long aftermath. Books with a similar feel include The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
