A few years ago when I read Homegoing I was immediately struck by the abilities of Yaa Gyasi as a writer and knew that I would read anything that she put out. Transcendent Kingdom is a completely different type of novel than her first, but her beautiful writing and ability to write families is still there.

This book focuses on Gifty, a woman pursuing her PHD in Medicine while studying addiction in mice, and her relationship with her mother who has depression and has come to live with her. You then are transported back and forth to the past where you see Gifty's childhood growing up with an absent father and brother who become addicted to drugs.

I was immediately drawn into Gifty's story and felt so connected to her and everything that she was going through. The way that Yaa Gyasi weaves stories of depression, addiction, religion, and science together is masterful and it was hard to leave the story when I had to do something else.

The title of this book, Transcendent Kingdom, describes the story so well. The story follows Gifty, a highly intelligent neuroscience student, her depressive mother, and brother, Nana who passed away from a heroin overdose.

Raised in a religious home to an incredibly faithful mother, young Gifty prays regularly to God as well. When Nana passes away, Gifty walks away from her faith and chooses the most difficult major she can find to keep her mind occupied. As a science major, she seeks scientific answers to the questions of human suffering, loss, and pain, that she ponders as she recounts her life with Nana and her absent father.

As she mulls over these questions as an adult, she finds herself drawn back to her lost faith and conversations with God. What she seeks is a blend of who she's become, with science, faith, and family. However, this book is not a religious book in a traditional sense. It's really a story of human loss, suffering, family, history, and discovering how one fits into it all. In Gifty's world, she's discovered a transcendent kingdom that transcends all of who she is and what the world is in her eyes.