Bring Up the Bodies vs Homegoing: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Literary Fiction, Literary, Historical, Historical Fiction, History, Fiction

Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel · 2012 ★★★★☆ 4.3 432 pages · ≈ 8 h 00 m · Moderate

“His children are falling from the sky.”

Bring Up the Bodies is a historical novel by Hilary Mantel; sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall; and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry…

1 film adaptation

Fictional Works Englisch Great Britain New York Times reviewed

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Homegoing Yaa Gyasi · 2016 ★★★★☆ 4.5 320 pages · ≈ 5 h 56 m · Moderate

“The night Effia Otcher was born into the musky heat of Fanteland, a fire raged through the woods just outside her father’s compound.”

Homegoing is the debut historical fiction novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, published in 2016. Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two…

LGBTQ historical fiction Sagas African American Slavery

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
Homegoing is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 8 for Bring Up the Bodies.
Bring Up the Bodies has the widest readership — 107638 ratings behind its score.
Bring Up the Bodies runs the darker storyline; Homegoing stays the lighter read.

Bring Up the Bodies: Check price →Homegoing: Check price →

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Homegoing ≈ 5h vs 8h for Bring Up the Bodies Want the crowd-tested pick? Bring Up the Bodies 107638 ratings vs 1890 for Homegoing In the mood for something dark? Bring Up the Bodies a darker storyline than Homegoing Want something lighter? Homegoing an easier tone than Bring Up the Bodies

Scores by source

	Bring Up the Bodies	Homegoing
Goodreads	4.3 (107638)	—
Hardcover	4.3 (183)	5.0 (1)
Google Books	3.0 (118)	4.5 (3)
Apple Books	4.5 (807)	4.5 (1890)
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Reception

	Bring Up the Bodies	Homegoing
Ratings	107638	1890
Editions	55	32
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	113981	—
Reading it now	5742	—
Written reviews	10039	—
Wikipedia attention	3806	5134
Pages	432	320
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Bring Up the Bodies or Homegoing?

Homegoing has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Homegoing 4.5/5, Bring Up the Bodies 4.3/5).

Which is shorter to read: Bring Up the Bodies or Homegoing?

Homegoing is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Homegoing (320 pages, ≈ 5 h 56 m); Bring Up the Bodies (432 pages, ≈ 8 h 00 m).

Which is harder to read: Bring Up the Bodies or Homegoing?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Bring Up the Bodies: Moderate; Homegoing: Moderate.

Have both books been made into films?

Bring Up the Bodies: 1 film adaptation; Homegoing: no film adaptation on record.