'Homegoing' is a powerful dive into history and the impact of slavery, told through one family's story

Toward the end of her debut novel, Homegoing, author Yaa Gyasi drops an indictment of how we document the past:

"This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others ... when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth?"

In a lot of ways, this is also the perfect summary of Homegoing, which offers a dive into history and family by exploring unheard and under-discussed narratives of the past.

Homegoing follows the lineage of two half sisters living in 18th-century Ghana: Effia, the wife of a British slaver, and Esi, who is sold into slavery and eventually sent to America. From there Homegoing ripples out, following Effia and Esi's family trees and the continuing impact that slavery has on the lives of people across the globe. The book offers powerful peeks into their descendants' lives, generation by generation, and the forces that seek to disrupt them.

"I didn't want history to be something that happens and we leave over there," Gyasi told Mashable in an IRL book club discussion. "History leaves a trail."

Join us this week on the MashReads Podcast as we read and discuss Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, with Yaa Gyasi herself.

Then, as always, we close the show with recommendations:

• Yaa recommends Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. And she is also currently reading Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett.

• Aliza recommends A Very Potter Musical.

• Peter recommends Sofia Coppola's film The Beguiled.

• MJ recommends rewatching Legally Blonde. He also recommends "Flying Solo," an essay about relationships and heartbreak in the age of Trump, by one of Mashable's freelance editors Jen Doll; and the New York Times op-ed "My Gay Agenda," which is about the essential rights one woman is asking for as a part of her "gay agenda."

Next week we'll discuss Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, the first entry into his Dark Tower series, in anticipation for the release of the Dark Tower movie. And don't forget to follow MashReads on Facebook and Twitter for the latest, greatest book news.