It took me a while to write a review for Transcendent Kingdom because it is a book that you need to sit with. I finished the book fairly quickly and thought it was a great read. But I realised that I couldn't stop thinking about it. The compelling prose, the expertly explored themes of religion and science, the depth of emotions conveyed. This book is a masterpiece.

Gifty is a neuroscientist at Stanford, studying reward-seeking behaviour in mice. Her research topic is fuelled by her need to find tangible answers following her brother's overdose and her mother's depression. The book interweaves the past and present beautifully. We see snippets of Gifty's childhood, the events surrounding her brother's death and the emotional aftermath, as well as the subsequent alienation from members of the Church. It was a slow unravelling of the path that led Gifty to her present-life in Stanford.

Gyasi's heart wrenching portrayal of grief in Transcendent Kingdom left me in awe. With her soft and quiet prose, I did not expect this book to evoke such visceral emotions from me, but it did. Grief is a complex emotion and Gyasi's nuanced exploration of it did it justice and then some. The tone of loss and despair throughout the book was punctuated with moments of lightness that kept this book from being overwhelmed with pain and suffering.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to everyone - frequent readers and non-readers alike. Gyasi's talent lies within bringing to life the stories of people who live in "in-between spaces", spaces where religion, culture and science intersect. Transcendent Kingdom is a book that will be impossible to forget.

*I rated it 4.5/5*

I did enjoy this book but it didn't captivate me like I thought and hoped it would, Gifty's journey was one to be appreciated whether you feel connected or not.

This was beautifully written and I hope that more people read this and enjoy her story. Thank you for giving me the pleasure of reading it.

Gifty, the protagonist of Yaa Gyasi’s second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, is both a neuroscience PhD student at Stanford who sought rigour in all things from an early age, and a grieving woman who is still deeply connected to her Ghanaian family’s Pentecostalism. As a child, she struggled with the command to ceaselessly praise God, soon discovering that she found it difficult to keep her mind on prayer for more than a few minutes; her teenage imagination was caught by the idea that ‘in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God’ might actually be translated differently: ‘“Word” was translated from the Greek word Logos, which didn’t really mean “word” at all, but rather something closer to “plea” or even premise… In the beginning there was an idea, a premise; there was a question.’ Gifty’s research on reward-seeking behaviour in mice has obvious connections with the death of her older brother Nana from opioid addiction, but the novel avoids giving her this one simple motivation for her project; she explains that she was drawn to neuroscience because it seemed so hard and so pure, and is now grappling with the conflict between religious and scientific ideas of the brain, the mind and the soul.

From a white British perspective, fiction on the perceived conflict between religion and science has often tended to focus on the theory of evolution, and explored either the gentle accord that nineteenth-century men of science found between their faith and the evidence that the natural history of the world was much longer than they’d expected, or the later clashes with creationism. Transcendent Kingdom stands out in its depiction of Gifty’s Pentecostal faith, which, unlike Anglicanism/ Episcopalianism, focuses on personal divine revelation and speaking in tongues, and how she integrates her childhood beliefs with her neuroscientific work. (Creationism only comes up once, as an irritating question that non-believers ask her; she dodges it by spouting something one of her schoolteachers once said, ‘I believe we’re made of stardust, and God made the stars.’) This novel is so wise and thoughtful that there are endless bits I could quote, but I was especially struck by how Gifty turns to both scientific articles and biblical passages, not necessarily as sources of authority, but as things that are both good to think with.

This book is so thematically resonant that a lot of the reviews I’ve read make it sound intellectually worthy, but a bit dry; this isn’t the case at all. Gifty is a completely captivating narrator, ironically funny about her younger self, complex, unashamedly ambitious and yet deeply caring. Gyasi does not have time for any of the usual binaries that afflict female characters, and doesn’t let us think for a second that because Gifty wants to be a scientific star and does not want marriage or children, this means that she is in any way emotionally deficient. The novel is also technically brilliant in a very unobtrusive way; the narrative melts between present and past every few paragraphs, but I never felt at all confused about where or when we were. Indeed, it’s this clever juxtaposition that allows Gyasi to say so much without spelling anything out to the reader.

I never managed to love Gyasi’s acclaimed debut, Homegoing, as much as I wanted to; I admired its premise and construction, and connected with some of the stories, but felt a little distanced from the project as a whole. Transcendent Kingdom was a very different experience; I was completely pulled into Gifty’s world and Gifty’s questions. 4.5 stars.

A beautifully written novel on family, religion and addiction.

Gifty is a PhD candidate working on an experiment in neuroscience at Stanford University – specifically studying the “reward-seeking behaviour in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction”. We learn early on that her brother, Nana, a gifted high-school athlete, died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury led to him becoming addicted to OxyContin. This led to her mother entering a deep depression and in the present day has come to stay with Gifty at her apartment near Stanford.

When Homecoming was published, I remember hearing so much about Gyasi’s writing. I haven’t read that book yet but with Transcendent Kingdom, I now understand where all the praise comes from (and can’t wait to read her first novel for myself).

What really struck me with Transcendent Kingdom was the inclusion and significance of the science experiment, which is quite detailed at times. The way the author writes those scenes helps to give you a greater understanding and insight into the mindset of Gifty. You come to understand the importance of this project and her need to focus on it – it is the only thing she can control in her life. Perhaps this she can fix.

A heart-breaking read, as the book progresses, Gifty shares passages from her childhood journal and we see how the family were affected as Nana became addicted to drugs, and your heart aches for this little girl who can’t understand why her brother has changed so much. Why he’s become so angry. And so sad.

Religion is also a huge part of the family’s story. Ghanaian immigrants, their mother joins an evangelical church on arriving to America and it plays a central role in their life. Gifty’s faith as a child wanes as she enters adulthood but she longs as an adult to have that blind faith in anything and finds herself returning to it in search of answers to somehow ease her mother’s suffering and her own.

Honestly the book covers so many different themes, I could write about it all day. It’s a beautiful book that I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come. This is one definitely worth your time.

Transcendent Kingdom will be published by Penguin UK on Thursday, 4th March, 2021. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Homegoing was arguably my favourite book I read in 2020 so I was both excited and apprehensive of reading Gyasi’s follow up. Rather than covering a wide expanse of characters as in her previous book this time we are treated to a detailed exploration of one character.

The daughter of Ghanaian parents in Alabama this tells the story of Gifty, and how her family of four becomes but two as her father and brother struggle with immigrant life in the American South. Then later her journey into science in a desperate bid to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother's life and the depression that clouded her mother thereafter.

I was mesmerised by this book, easy reading it is not there are some heavy parts which Gyasi has written with such authenticity that I genuinely had to keep reminding myself this was a work of fiction and not a memoir. I was so invested I felt the raw, ugly pain Gifty experienced so strongly at one point I put it down to compose myself before I could continue.

There is so much covered in this book, again I have no idea how Gyasi has managed in within so few pages. The scientific detail included was astounding, I speak as a layperson but it is hard to believe Gyasi didn’t undertake this research and I particularly enjoyed the exploration and attempts to resolve her character’s conflict of faith versus science.

It was always going to be hard to follow up Homegoing and if I’m honest and had read both without knowledge of the author I would not have said it was the same person.

My advice is to all Homegoing fans read this with an open mind this is a completely different book but it is brilliant in it’s own way ❤️

Thank you to @netgalley and @vikingbooksuk @penguinukbooks for this ARC (I really did scream when this arrived in my inbox). Transcendent Kingdom is out 4th March 2021.

I loved Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing so I was so excited to read this.

Transcendent Kingdom is the story of Gifty, a doctorate student in California studying reward-seeking in rats. It’s about her mother, who came to America from Ghana, and her brother, Nana, who died of an overdose as a teenager.

This book is beautiful and incredibly moving and fascinating. I love the way it moves through time periods, sometimes midway through a page. All of the characters felt so real that I feel like I’m mourning them now it’s finished.

I absolutely adored this book, and I know it will definitely make it into my books of the year list.

5 stars

Trascendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a while.

Gifty is the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, and she was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. She loves her brother, Nana, very much. Nana is a gifted athlete in high school, and the pride of his town and Church. Nana dies of an overdose a few years after being prescribed OxyContin for an injury.

Trascendent Kingdom is the story of a woman that dedicates herself to figuring out how addiction works in the brain. This is the story of a woman that, after the death of her brother, tries to make sense of her community, of her church, of how being Black in the South affected her life. Most importantly, it’s the story of a woman who tries to deal with her brother’s death and feeling betrayed by God, and how religion and science coexist, within herself. Gifty goes through all the stages of emotions one feels when family member of an addict: pity, shame, compassion, love, and even hatred, and through her scientific work tries to figure out the answers to some of today’s biggest questions: what is addiction, why it affects some brains this way, and how can we treat it.

I found this book extremely powerful, and raw. It shows addiction for what it is, a disease, which is something I wasn’t fully able to grasp until recently. 
Yaa Gyasi’s writing is just so incredibly evocative, and I can’t wait to read more from her.

I once again fell in love with Yaa Gyasi's writing and capability to make me care so deeply for her characters. it was both a heartbreaking and hopeful story, talking about how depression and drug addiction can impact your life. it's about loving your family so much you can't imagine giving up on them even after their death.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

After absolutely loving Gyasi’s Homegoing, I was so keen to read this book! It totally lived up to expectations.

It was sensitively and beautifully written, confronting addiction and mental illness, whilst also reflecting on the disparity and connection between faith and science.

Gifty is an excellently portrayed protagonist. She is a strong, black woman in science, struggling with her sadness surrounding her brother’s addiction and her mother’s depression.

Gyasi writes so elegantly and beautifully, conveying the emotion of the characters, exploring the nuances and difficulties of dealing with addiction.

REVIEW: Yaa Gyasi's second novel is one of the most incredible bits of fiction I have read for some time. It follows a neuroscientist named Gifty. Her Ghana-born parents immigrated to the USA when she was small, and the novel deals with the struggles that follow as her parents try to settle in to life as Americans. As she grows up and becomes a scientist, she starts to wrestle with how complicated questions of faith and culture intersect with her education.

I have never read a novel that so beautifully captures the wonders and shortcomings of science without sounding overly philosophical or preachy. Gyasi unpacks for the reader how questions of death and humanity are unsatisfactorily answered by science and faith alike as Gifty struggles with grief, addiction, and familial obligation. I found this novel deeply moving and engaging; I don't think I have cried so much reading a book since I read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking.

If you enjoyed @brandonlgtaylor's Real Life (which you should have it was bloody amazing), I strongly urge you to pick up this. It really is amazing - EASILY my book of the year so far.

Thanks to @penguinukbooks for the ARC. Transcendent Kingdom is out on 4 March in the UK (and I believe it's out most places already).

I had very high expectations for this one going in, with the hype that it’s had so far but also for the hype and love that Homegoing received. I expected it to be a challenging read, because of my assumptions of Homegoing (which is still on my tbr), but it was easy to read, with some really powerful messages. Gyasi really knows how to make a character seem real, on a few occasions I checked to see if it was actually a memoir because the insights and thoughts that Gifty shared throughout are so fitting to her character and her story. How she felt and experienced her brothers addiction and mothers mental illness, her internal (and sometimes external) science v religion debate, all make the character relatable to the point of being a real person.

The story line was really fitting for the book and I truly enjoyed every aspect of it. I was definitely not disappointed with my first Gyasi novel, so Homegoing, I’m coming for you next!

Transcendent Kingdom is told through the eyes of Gifty, a Ghanaian-American PhD student studying the neural circuits of depression and addiction at Standford. The novel centres on Gifty, but also focuses on her Ghanaian roots, and addresses the many struggles her family were faced with, which ultimately shaped her into who she is today. From her brothers addiction to opioid drugs, to her mothers struggles with depression, the book addresses the impacts of mental illness and addiction can have on not only the individual, but on the family as a whole.

I was so profoundly affected by this novel and could truly resonate with some of the themes discussed. I have never read something which looks so deeply into the causes of depression and addiction with such honesty and sensitivity before. The writing felt so raw that I repeatedly questioned whether I was reading a memoir of Yaa’s life. I loved the fact that our protagonist was a black female scientist, as that is so rarely explored in novels today.

This was my first introduction into Yaa’s beautiful writing and it certainly will not be the last. Her writing is truly a gift that needs to be shared and I cannot wait to see what she brings out next

This was unlike any other story I’ve read before! In Transcendent Kingdom, we follow protagonist Gifty as she navigates her successful work in an scientific environment, and learn about her brother, mother and her relationship with God. I found it to be a slow-paced read, but so incredibly intriguing all the way through. Gifty’s struggle with her faith vs. what she knows to be true through the basis of science and evolution was really fascinating, and although some of the religious language was a little heavy at times, it was throughly enjoyable. Her relationship with her mother is very unique, and totally heartbreaking at times, The story also delves into her brother’s struggle with addiction, and places a heavy focus on the psychology of addiction and how it affects the brain, Deeply moving, super fascinating and insightful read.

This is a new favorite book for me! Transcendent Kingdom is a beautifully written depiction of family and mental health. I absolutely loved Yaa Gyasi's writing in this novel, even moreso than in her debut, Homegoing. I enjoyed the scientific aspects when working on lab rats and the fact that Gifty is a smart, strong and driven protagonist. I adored this book and would highly recommend the audiobook as well. The narrator is amazing!

“If I've thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remember what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound.”

I will be honest that I had no idea what the synopsis of this book was before diving in, I have seen so much praise for Homegoing (I need to read ASAP) that I decided to just trust Gyasi and see what this one was all about. All I can say is that this novel is so, SO good!

I found this story to be a true journey, told from multiple timelines all unfurling steadily & tying together beautifully allowing the reader to put all the pieces together painting a picture of this American-Ghanian family and their struggles. Gifty is our narrator, a Neurology PhD candidate focussing on reward seeking tendencies in mice and it very quickly becomes clear that her field of study stems from a personal need for understanding the neurological aspects addiction. I have never personally had much of an interest in science and tend to find that my mind wander in novels that delve into it, however Gyasi’s prose is magnificent and my interest was peeked as I found myself wanting to understand more!

At times it reads as if it were a memoir, covering many themes ranging from addition, grief, depression, religion, racism, favouritism, societal pressures, a brief glimpse on sexuality and a complex mother-daughter relationship. As it unfolds, we are transported back to Gifty’s younger years and watch her grow up via journal entries and chapters, Gyasi does an incredible job of dissecting this family, their issues, their profound love for each other (barring the Chin Chin man - read & you will know) and the events in the wake of a tragic loss. I must add that I especially adored the incredible bond that Gifty & Nana shared.

Personally, this novel really resonated with - as someone who has recently experienced grief & in younger years has had to cope with family suffering from addiction & depression, the pressure regarding religion - I found Gyasi tackled these difficult subject matters with grace & left me feeling somewhat understood and not alone.

Gyasi has cemented herself as a favourite author of mine & I would highly recommend this exquisite novel (a few TW’s to be mindful of) for anyone looking to diversify their reading further. I truly felt as if I learnt a great deal & am very much looking forward to picking up HG & her future works.

A very big thank you to Viking Books/Penguin Books UK & Netgally for the gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Out March 4th in the UK

Shortly after the birth of Nana, Gifty's older brother, her mother makes the decision to move the family out of Ghana in search of a better life, as immigrants in the US.

Gifty, a research neuroscientist, has spent such large parts of her childhood striving to be the "best" she can for others (her mother, brother, God, schoolteachers) that she, aged 28, does not truly know who she is as an adult.

Transcendant Kingdom tells the story of the heartbreaking impact that latent racism towards immigrants, addiction and mental health can have on both the individual and those around them. The story explores the negative attitude of Gifty's Alabama church (and school) towards science and, as Gifty grows, the negative attitude of her scientific peers towards religion. This book shows Gifty coming to terms with her family history, discovering who she is and understanding how religion and science can coexist side by side.

A beautiful story that had me rooting for Gifty from the start and hoping so desperately for a happy ending for her.

I love books about the immigrant experience; I even have a whole Goodreads shelf for such books. But the life of American-born Gifty and her Ghanaian born mother and brother is much more a story about the perils of American life than about the need to settle into a country that's completely alien to you. Immigration is context to Transcendent Kingdom rather than a key theme.

Mostly this book is about the twin American perils of depression and addiction. I have a friend in Massachusetts who lost her step-son to a heroin addiction that evolved from a back injury that led him to be given oxycontin. Consequently, I didn't need the link between brother Nana's injury ankle and his eventual death to overdose to be spelled out, but I did think it's not such an obvious story to many readers, especially if - like me - they're not American. The out of control prescribing of opioid in the USA is a very American issue and well worthy of the focus in this book.

The book offers us a glimpse into some very interesting topics. The sub-plot about live experimentation on mice to try to understand addictive behaviours was simultaneously fascinating and deeply disturbing. The role of religion in immigrant communities is also very interesting, especially when it's happy-clappy-talking-in-tongues evangelical Christianity.

The book wasn't really what I expected but I found it really interesting. I haven't read the author's other book but would hope to do so soon.

Wow – what a read! Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi is one of those amazing books that explores so many ideas within a cohesive, engrossing narrative and manages to perfectly balance it all: working as both a heart-wrenching story and thought-provoking, wonderfully written piece that packs an emotional punch.

This is story of Gifty. Like author Yaa Gyasi, Gifty is of Ghanaian descent and grows up in Alabama, USA. Gifty lives with her mother and older brother, Nana. Her father has long since gone back to Ghana and is a fleeting part of Gifty’s life.

Gifty is a neuroscientist, she conducts experiments to see if she can isolate the causes of addiction. Her chosen career has personal roots, through flashback stories we discover why and find out more about what has made gifty the woman she is. She feels like she has to be perfect, always the ‘good girl’ and has set herself very high standards.

I adored the ideas explored in Transcendent Kingdom – correlating science and religion and ruminating on how the two co-exist and how (if) they can answer questions for each other. Gifty’s mother is very religious, so she was brought up with God and the Bible in her life. She is also very logical and practical, so we are there with her as she balances these two aspects of her mind.

Gifty is one of favourite characters of recent times. Transcendent Kingdom is her coming-of-age story, albeit in her late 20s. Her awkwardness, pain and conflict is captured so well; her complex relationships with her mother, with being a black woman in such a white, male industry and with religion were just brilliantly explored.

Gifty’s mother also broke my heart. As an immigrant, she went to America in an attempt to make a better life, but things are not like that. She faces racism, low paid jobs and having to come to terms with the fact that her bid for a better life may not be what she dreamed of.

I know Transcendent Kingdom will definitely be a book I read again. Totally engrossing, sometimes funny, continually making me think. I also really enjoyed reading about the scientific research and loved Gifty – felt all the emotion she was going through.

There are times during my reading of this book when I had transcendent moments. Yaa Gyasi’s sophomore novel paints a striking view of the life of a Ghanaian first-generation immigrant family in the United States that is full of hardships, depressions and struggles — with frequent inner conversations over grief and the place of religion as a source of both comfort and discomfort. It brings back to questions that I have abandoned in childhood, in favour of accepting the religious belief that the environment around me has taught me to believe, something in Gifty — our main character — daily life that finds a parallel in mine.

Gifty was raised as an unwanted second child from a Ghanaian family in Alabama. Her mother had won the visa lottery which allows her to stay permanently in the US, and soon bringing her husband — the Chin Chin Man — as well as the newborn Nana — the first son in the family — to emigrate. Gifty was out of the equation in her mother’s life, born while she was forty in a new land far from her country of origin. But the struggles begin as the Chin Chin Man leaves for Ghana when Gifty was three years old, never to return, and the heroin addiction took the life of Nana during his adolescent period.

The routine of Gifty in this book could be described as simply ‘boring’, with frequent transits between her lab to monitor the result of mice injected with chemical substances in the process of testing reward-seeking behaviour in relation to neurosurgery, and her home to see the mother who could only spend countless hours in her bed. Her research is her escape from the sadness that keeps haunting Gifty all her life ever since her brother’s death. Yet during those ‘escape’s, we could observe the way Gifty converses with herself in coping with her difficult situation as she recalls her memories of childhood, spending a summer in Ghana, as well as the time she was studying in Harvard as an undergraduate. Those moments, if I may say, hold transcendent quality.

There are many things to like about this book. In some ways, it feels to me much like a dialogue with my childhood self. Gifty’s conversation with herself in some ways could be said as a way for her to analyse her own problems through her professional lens as a neuroscientist who specialises in psychiatric treatment. She tries to emulate the circumstances leading to her brother’s heroin overdose, which began by addiction. But the question remains unanswered in most cases, what kind of circumstances create an addict? It could be said addicts didn’t choose to be addicts, since it is just some form of escape from an undesirable situation (whatever those undesirable situations remain debatable). And this simple scene captures beautifully the complexities and hardships faced by recent immigrants who have to fit into the new society.

I once again fell in love with Yaa Gyasi's writing and capability to make me care so deeply for her characters. it was both a heartbreaking and hopeful story, talking about how depression and drug addiction can impact your life. it's about loving your family so much you can't imagine giving up on them even after their death.