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.

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.