I loved Homegoing, so when I heard Yaa Gyasi was due to release a new book I jumped at the chance to read it. And I was not disappointed. Transcendent Kingdom is in many ways different from Homegoing, although some of the same themes of family, belonging and identity are echoed here as well, but it is nevertheless a captivating and emotional read that confirms Yaa Gyasi as a great author - and a must-read one for me.

Transcendent Kingdom is narrated by Gifty in a non-linear way, moving seamlessly between childhood memories, her present life and her reflections on life and its meaning, science, religion and lots more. I'm not usually a fan of non-linear narration so I was a bit worried about this going in, but to my surprise I actually got into the style quite quickly and I felt it worked perfectly as a reflection of Gifty's emotional and mental state.

Gifty was a really compelling character. Her struggle to make sense of life and loss, looking at religion and then science to provide answers to explain her deep suffering and grief, and to find ways to avoid it happening to others, made for a highly emotional and multilayered read. Some of the detail of both Gifty's experiments and her religious experience felt like it was a bit too much for me, and took me away from the main reflections, but that's just personal preference.

This is an emotionally charged book, dealing with themes such as addiction, loss and grief, migration, discrimination, and mental health. Despite that (or maybe because it doesn't shy away from difficult topics), it is an engrossing read. The easy flow of Yaa Gyasi's beautiful style drew me right into Gifty's mind, asking with her, how do you keep going when your whole world comes crashing down around you?

CW: drug addiction, death, grief, mental ill health, racism

This is the book I wanted to read from Gyasi after her Homegoing didn't work for me: this book gives me the intimacy and focus that I felt got diffused in Homegoing. Fundamentally, this is about a narrator striving to make sense of her life, her family and the difficulties she is forced to deal with. Gifty is torn between the master-narratives of religion and science, but comes to realise that neither can completely explain life: addiction, depression, how relationships fail or succeed, even the enigmas of another person's character are all held up for examination but, wisely, are never 'solved'.

It's striking at how assured Gyasi is in shaping a narrative which weaves past and present seamlessly - so many books attempt this, but it's rare that it is done with such ease.

There are places where this becomes emotionally difficult to read and it's a testament to the power of the writing that I felt this way: the conflicted relationship, especially, between Gifty and her mother is delicately drawn with great subtlety and tenderness while still being true to the tensions between the women.

There's a section in the middle where Gifty's church going and dialogue with god became a little too much for me but overall this is intelligent, engaging and emotionally involving - easy to read but dealing with difficult, important questions.

After reading Homegoing I knew I would like this book but was also a little apprehensive how it would be. I was super pleased when I enjoyed it just as much
Transcendent Kingdom follows the narrative of Gifty, a young Ghanaian women who is studying Neuroscience and making waves in the scientific world. Gifty has her own personal reasons for tackling this branch of science which are revealed as the story moves back and forth in time
Gyasi's writing is so powerful whilst beautiful, it is moving and hugely captivating.
Another book that has stayed with me long after turning back the last page. Gyasi is the writer of modern day masterpieces.

Gifty is a phd level neuroscience student at Stanford, studying the affects of addiction and depression in mice in the wake of the loss of her brother to a heroin overdose and with her suicidal mother living in her bed.

This book is a very elegantly woven narrative of a woman trying to navigate her life in the face of familial grief and loss, dealing with her conflicting beliefs in religion and science whilst dealing with her depressed mother. It’s a moving exploration of a family ravaged by addiction and depression and provides insight into the struggles of a poor, Ghanaian immigrant family in America.

Gyasi’s writing style is undoubtedly beautiful and I love the way that she seamlessly slips from past to present. I also love how she so cleverly presents and intersects such juxtaposed themes throughout the book.

It’s deep and it’s profound but for my personal preference there’s a little too many and too detailed references to God and the bible and whilst I understand the relevance to the story, for me it’s a little distracting.

I bloody loved Gyasi’s debut, HOMEGOING. 😍 The way Gyasi weaved so much history and depth into one book was amazing. I mean, it was incredible how she created such a thought-provoking and engaging book which spanned over, I think it was six generations and two continents!! That’s a whole lotta history! 😂 So I was over the moon when I had the opportunity to read TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM before it’s publication in March.🤩

TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM takes a different approach. It focuses on Gifty and her family who immigrated from Ghana to Alabama. In the present, Gifty is completing a doctoral thesis at Stanford University and her mother comes to stay with her. From flashbacks in the narrative, we explore Giftys religious upbringing and family loss, and better understand her research into addiction. I find Gyasi’s writing very insightful and powerful, as she really gets to the core of her characters. I highlighted so many sections as parts were so beautiful and wise. I do love those tabs. 😂 If I’m honest, it didn’t have the same emotional pull as HOMEGOING, yet I did whizz through it. Many themes are explored...*deep breath*
family, grief, addiction, mental health, faith, belonging, immigration, religion, and science.

ALOT! I found Gifty’s relationship with her mother tough and sad. I loved how Gifty found journaling cathartic, and in her words “as vital and unconscious to me as breathing.” Yes! The need to write down thoughts, feelings and observations is a reflective and cathartic task, and this is how Gyasi’s writing feels to me. It makes me stop and reflect, and this is why to me, she is such a talented writer. And of course I cried. 😭Have you met me?! Emotional reader over here.😂

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

TW// racism, addiction, mental illness, death, animal experimentation

“I was doing okay, I thought, so when I found her, sinking n the bathtub, the faucet running, the floor flooded, the first thing I felt was betrayed. We were doing okay.”

Gifty is raised in an Evangelical Christian household in Alabama after her mother immigrated from Ghana in the hope of giving her children a better life. Her father is struggling to adjust to the new way of life in America and makes the difficult decision to move back home o Ghana. The family remain close and become accustomed to the new family unit of 3. Nana, the talented basketball player, suffers a severe injury on the pitch for which he is prescribed OxyContin. He becomes addicted to the pain relief and after being cut off from his doctor, Nana turns to acquiring opioids illegally. After his fatal overdose, Gifty’s mother falls into a crippling depression and she is sent to live with her Aunt in Ghana while her mother recovers. She is now a PhD student researching addiction, in the hope of finding a ‘cure’ for addiction.

The way in which Gyasi explores depression and addiction brought tears to my eyes. She did an excellent job at combating the stigma surrounding addiction, especially within the black and religious communities. Yaa Gyasi has such a way with words, at multiple points while reading I honestly forgot that this wasn’t a piece of non fiction. She has such a gorgeous ability to transport you straight into the lives of the characters in her book.

It was heartbreaking reading about Gifty’s strong need to ‘fix’ her family and to see if there is anything she could have done to prevent her brothers death. Because of this desire, she struggles to form relationships and friendships due to her obsession over her research dedicated to her family.

Also… the medical student in me was thriving while reading this book!! I absolutely adored the interspersion of science, both in relation to religion and psychology. I thought Gifty’s exploration of science and religion was beautiful even from someone who isn’t religious, the line “I think we ate made out of stardust and God made the stars” was truly beautiful.


🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼/5

This was an easy five star read.

Yaa has such an incredible way of writing that evokes so much emotion through the book. I was so moved by the entire story that I actually forgot I was reading fiction and not a biography.

The subject of addiction and recovery was so delicately handled yet so powerful.

An absolute must read

Sadly this novel did not live up to my expectations. I loved her debut Homegoing but this book felt very flat to me, apart from the main character none of the other characters felt properly developed.

What. A. Book. Gifty is a neuroscientist investigating the mechanics of restraint, investing most of her life and self into her work. When her mother comes to stay with her in the midst of a depressive episode Gifty had to face up to the parts of her past that still haunt her, her devout Christian upbringing in a Ghanaian immigrant family, her father's abandonment and her beloved brother's addiction.

It's a simpler narrative than Homegoing but it's just as powerful. Gyasi explores the interplay of faith, religion and science with nuance and sensitivity. Her writing in the nature of the brain the mind and the soul will stay with me for a long time. The emotional and intellectual depths are fascinating but Gyasi's true strength is in her wonderful characters and the beauty of her elegant, emotionally resonant writing.

Homegoing is one of my favorite books so I couldn't wait to read this.

“My memories of him, though few, are mostly pleasant, but memories of people you hardly know are often permitted a kind of pleasantness in their absence. It’s those who stay who are judged the harshest, simply by virtue of being around to be judged.”

For me it was not as compelling as Homegoing (it's completely different) but definitely a powerful novel. The writing style is just as beautiful. I especially liked the exploration of Gifty's relationship with her depressed mother and her inner thoughts on religion and science.

If a book hangover is where you’ve finished a book and can’t stop thinking about the characters, what is the opposite phenomenon called? I’m talking about where you can’t wait to move on from a book that has left you feeling stone cold. A rush to empathy? Whatever it’s called, I had this sensation after my last read and I couldn’t have been happier with Transcendent Kingdom, which delivered what I needed in spades.

A gorgeous tale by the author of Homegoing centring around Gifty, a Black American woman in her twenties, the daughter of Ghanaian emigrants, born and raised in an evangelical community in Huntsville, Alabama, who goes on to study neuroscience and specifically, the reward-seeking behaviour of mice. Gifty is driven to discover a cure for depression and addiction, motivated by her own family tragedy.

As she looks back on her life, she struggles to resolve the conflict between religion and science, and her own personal battles with her identity as a daughter, sister, scientist and friend, so much of which has been baked in by her immigrant evangelical upbringing.

I enjoyed this book every bit as much as Homegoing, possibly more. Where Homegoing was expansive and hugely ambitious in portraying multiple generations, this is much more introspective and tightly woven around one Ghanaian family. It is a desperately sad book at times but full of empathy and not without hope. 4/5 ⭐️

I recently signed up to @NetGalleyUK. This was the first book I requested and received a copy of. Notwithstanding that, this is, as always an honest review. #netgalley

I loved Homegoing, so in some ways I was a little apprenhensive about reading Yaa Gyasi's sophomore effort - could it live up to my expectations?

The answer is yes. While very different in terms of tone and scale, Transcendent Kingdom is no less impressive than her debut. Gyasi addresses the issues of faith and addiction with characteristic insight and clear-sighted prose. She explores weighty themes such as racism, mental health and neuroscience with a deft touch, in a way that is both intelligent and unpretentious.

Transcendent Kingdom is a stunning novel - smart, sensitive and a real pleasure to read.

Gifty is the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants to America. After her disillusioned father deserts the family to return to his homeland, and her brother succumbs to opioid addiction, she turns to science for answers to her family’s problems.

Transcendent Kingdom explores the connection between religion and science.

Gyasi’s writing is confident, mature and in control. The beautiful imagery captures and enhances the meaning of the words perfectly.

Insightful.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

This was a beautifully-written, thought-provoking follow up to Homecoming but with starkly different themes. Here Yaa Gyasi examines Science, religion, addiction and what it means to be human.

The protagonist, Gifty relates the story of the breakdown of her family, immigrants from Ghana who settled in Alabama, USA. Nana is her older brother, a talented athlete whose injury led to OxyContin addiction. Her father, known as the Chin Chin man, is unable to cope with the racism and isolation he faces in the American South and her mother turns to religion in search of belonging before plummeting into depression as her life gradually implodes.

Gifty’s search for answers take her from religion to science as she searches for a way to be ‘saved’.

This is a thoughtful and tender book and would be a great book group choice as there is so much to discuss.

One caveat: this is really not a cheerful book. I personally found it quite a difficult read in the current (Covid 19) climate and am not sure that I would have persevered if I wasn’t reviewing it. It is a book well worth reading but you should be aware that for some, this might not be the perfect time to do it.

Thank you to Penguin UK and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Transcendent Kingdom didn't quite live up to expectation for me. However, it is powerful, thoughtful, and tells stories that aren't heard enough. Mainly for me what is important is that Gyasi covers black mental health, shows its complexity on the same level any white person's mental health issues would be. White people lead and dominate the conversation in terms of mental health, so to have this depiction is really important.

The second novel after the hugely successful Homegoing, this novel was another outstanding turn from Gyasi. Full of clever observations, rich insights, and wonderful characters who jumped from the page.

I really enjoyed this! It's a thoughtful and substantial novel, and is often quite moving. It's about religion, science, mental health, and addiction.

The plot is really clever - the main character carries out research on mice, seeking to discover if they can resist desire. Or as she puts it: <i>"The brain chemistry of these mice has changed to the point where they aren't really in control of what they can or can't control. They aren't 'themselves.'"</i> Her research parallels her backstory: Her brother was an addict, and her mother suffers from extreme depression - so one can't resist desire, the other can't feel it. It's a very clever hook.

The other part of the book I thought was really clever and well done was its depiction of the shame and sense of wrongness that institutionalised racism can cause - the self-hatred. Also, the idea that you need to 'perform' or 'be perfect' in order to be acceptable. The voice of this book sometimes reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh's first-person narrators: someone who is lonely, pretending that they're fine when they're really not.

Quibbles:
- Dialogue from the brother often sounded flat, especially at the height of his addiction ("I'll get better this time, Mom. I promise."). Probably realistic but still... flat.
- In the last fourth of the book, the structure/pace fell apart (especially after the trip to Ghana) and it got a bit rambling, as if the book had lost track of itself and wasn't sure how to finish. But to be fair, I'm never sure if this is the fault of the Kindle ARC not having correct chapter breaks/spacings inserted.

Overall, a captivating and emotional read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This novel is a powerful novel about family loss, love and grief, tied together in gorgeous and delicate prose. Gifty is a Ghanaian - American daughter of immigrants who tells her story with such emotional depth and emphathy. As a huge fan of Yaa Gyasi's debut novel Homegoing, this did not disappoint

Oh but this book was glorious. introspective and unflinching and fascinating, I pretty much inhaled it. I was so involved in every aspect - I loved the exploration of Gifty's relationships with her mother and her brother and with God - her faith juxtaposed alongside her scientific research was so interesting and so clever - and even though it was hard to read there was no denying the explorations of grief and addiction were so well done. Not an easy read in terms if content, sure, but one that got under my skin in the best way.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.
We follow Gifty’s quest to search for rhyme or reason to what happened to her brother through her science and battle with religion. I felt the start was a little slow but I soon became invested in Gifty’s character. A heartbreaking story.