Although Effia and Esi are sisters, they never meet, as their life paths are separated from the very beginning. In 18th century Ghana, Effia marries an Englishman who gains wealth and power through the slave trade. In contrast, Esi is sold as a slave to America. While Effia's descendants become either victims or beneficiaries of the slave trade over the centuries, Esi's children and grandchildren struggle to survive: on the plantations of the Southern states, during the American Civil War, the Great Migration, in the coal mines of Alabama, and then, in the 20th century, in the jazz clubs and drug houses of Harlem. Does the most recent generation finally have the chance to find a place in society that they can call home, where they are not seen as second-class citizens? With immense narrative power, Yaa Gyasi portrays the journeys of these women.