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

A beautifully written piece on family, loss, and religion, but for me it felt empty. Distant. I didn't care about anyone involved and it felt like the book went nowhere.

ARC via 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.

I loved ‘Homegoing’ and Gyasi’s writing here is just as beautiful. I’ve been waiting patiently for the UK publication of this book- thankful to get this on Netgalley a couple of months early. The story of Gifty, child of Ghanaian immigrants as she tries to make sense of family trauma , addiction, mental illness through her work on lab mice. Science v faith is a major theme but there are many others. It was just a lovely poignant read.

Your patience will be rewarded.
The only shared link between this novel and Homegoing is the strong writing skill of the author. Gifty, a Ghanian-American daughter of immigrants, is telling her story of living a first generation immigrant life growing up in Alabama with her older brother Nana. Nana is the all-American athlete with a promising future until one innocuous accident starts a chain of events that will influence not only Gifty's future career choices but her relationship with her mother and any other personal relationships.
The story unfolds slowly and you have to be patient and let Gifty as the narrator open up to you as she starts to trust the reader with her story. The use of humour (her mum is code named the Black Mamba) is well-controlled and adds warmth, great insight into religion and intelligent and empathetic observations on choice and addiction.
This is a beautiful and lyrical novel. I am one of a minority who didn't rave about Homegoing. I feel differently about Transcendent Kingdom. This deserves much praise for the restraint with which this story is told. It could have been over embellished in the hands of a lesser author.
[This review was also posted on Amazon.]

This book gets the easiest 5 stars I’ve given for a long time. After loving Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi I was so excited to be approved for an advanced copy of her newest book Transcendent Kingdom.

Gifty was brought up an Evangelical Christian in Alabama with her Ghanian family, her father left them and returned to Ghana, her brother dies of an overdose and her mother enters a crippling depression. At 11 years old she is sent to Ghana while her mother recovers. Now a PhD student studying neuroscience, specifically addiction, she is trying to understand why her brother was taken and why her mother is trapped in depression again. She explores her faith as well as her neuroscience knowledge whilst recalling her past, trying to find the answer within God and/or science will make everything better. 

The writing in this is so clever, it’s layered, it’s informative and offers insight and understanding to a number of issues. I felt as the reader that I was following Gifty’s trail of thought as she recalled events from the past and weighed up why God and her pastor hadn’t helped and why science had failed to provide answers. 

Gifty’s need to fix her family is so despairingly strong, that it overtakes her life. She can’t open up to friends or form relationships and as you read her journey, trying to piece everything together for everyone else, you become more and more aware that Gifty herself is broken and struggling. When I read the following ‘“No I’m not ok”, I said, and I wondered when the last time I’d said that was. Had I ever said it, even to God?’ I burst into tears for this incredibly kind and vulnerable character. 

I have no criticism whatsoever. This book is phenomenal. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinukbooks for the pleasure of reading this before it’s 4th March publication date

I loved it! A brilliant, authentic piece of writing from Yaa Gyasi, simply wonderful!
I could not put this down. The themes of religion and faith were handled with beautiful delicacy, so much so that I was able to explore a real depth of the main character, fully understanding how she's feeling and reacting at any given time. For a book that touched on so many difficult elements; addiction, loss, racism and mental health, I was impressed by how well each was handled. At no time feel as if the writer had simply tied to include as many 'issues' as possible (as unfortunately is the case with so many other books)  Transcendent Kingdom was a complete emotional rollercoaster, and I adored every minute!

Gifty, a student of neuroscience, has dedicated her work to the study of reward-seeking behaviour and its relationship to addiction and depression. In experimenting on mice, Gifty is drawn back to her childhood and her experiences growing up in Alabama. Originally from Ghana, her family came to America filled with optimism and hope for their new life. Her father soon abandons them, leaving behind her brother Nana, whose opioid addiction costs him his life, and her Mother who is slowly slipping away consumed by her depression, leaving Gifty alone with her grief. 

Written from the perspective of Gifty, the novel feels like an internal monologue, in which our protagonist takes us through her formative years and the impact that her experiences of race, class and addiction have had on her and her family.

Although religion and science are often presented as being diametrically opposed, Yaa Gyasi uses both in her portrayal of Gifty’s understanding of the world.

There are so many beautiful, thought-provoking passages in this book, and it is worth reading for that reason alone. The style is elegiac, employing figurative imagery and poetic language to create a sense of loss and grief throughout. Whilst there is little in the way of a plot, this novel is built from acute observations that completely consume your thoughts. 

Yaa Gyasi has created a piece of work that intertwines philosophy, theology and science, in order to navigate the choices of humans and answer the question: ‘What’s the point of all of this?’

As a huge fan of Homegoing, I had high expectations for this second novel from the same author, Yaa Gyasi. My initial reaction, therefore, when it became clear that this was to be a very different book, was disappointment. The settings and themes are different, and we are given an intense focus on a single character rather than a sprawling epic across the generations. And yet, despite the major differences, Gyasi pulls it off, showing a breadth of talent that must have other authors seething with envy. 

We follow Gifty, the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants in the USA, and her difficult experiences as she grows up into early adulthood. We are with her through grief and childhood trauma, experience of addiction and depression, and as she searches for answers through an uneasy combination of religious faith and hard science. As a neuroscientist, she is quite literally seeking solutions for the causes of the suffering those closest to her have experienced. 

On each of these themes, Transcendent Kingdom equals anything else I have read. We feel her grief and her pain, we see how this drives her on in some ways and holds her back in others as she struggles to deal with the long-term consequences. And the highly-charged topic of science and religion is handled with incredible deftness and sensitivity. 

The subject matter mean it can be emotionally difficult reading - this is not a thriller or a romance - but the simplicity and beauty of the writing make it easy reading in a different sense. To handle these themes so well can only have been achieved through meticulous crafting and re-crafting of prose, and yet it flows so smoothly, like the words just poured out onto the page. A remarkable achievement.

I've been desperately looking forward to reading more of Yaa Gyasi's work, and her latest novel, Transcendent Kingdom, did not disappoint. 

Through Gifty, the daughter of a Ghanain immigrant family who moved to Alabama before she was born, we are taken on an emotional journey. It's some time since a book hit me in the heart quite as strongly as this one. Now a young lady researching for her PhD in neuroscience, Gifty relives everything that has taken her to that point in her life - growing up in a religious family, her brother a promising basketball start who becomes addicted to drugs, her mother suffering from depression, the racism that confronts them in their town of Huntsville, Alabama, and Gifty's quest for answers. 

Gyasi's prose is wonderful and, despite the serious issues addressed, it is easy to read. Gifty is a character that I immediately felt connected to, drawn into her family and caring about them all. I became so invested that at times I found myself holding my breath, fearful of what the next few lines might reveal.

Quite simply, this is an incredible novel. It's different from her debut, Homegoing, and I really admire that Gyasi has such range to her writing. It's a story that will stay with me and a book that I will be recommending to all who will listen.