Title: Transcendent Kingdom
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Black and African-American Literature
I read Homegoing earlier this year and just loved it. The story was so interesting, and the book was just beautifully written. I was just blown away at how captivating it was. And, although I didn’t love this one as much, it was still just such an excellent book. I had no trouble relating to Gifty and her struggles, even though I haven’t experienced them myself. Such is the talent of Gyasi, that even though I’m white, have parents who are still together, born in America, no family members with substance abuse issues, literally Gifty’s polar opposite, I could still get into her psyche because that’s what talented authors do. They create characters that anyone can inhabit, just for a few days. And Gifty will stick with me.
From Goodreads: Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family’s loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief–a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi’s phenomenal debut.
What was most fascinating to me was Gifty’s struggle with her faith. I’m not religious at all and never have been. So seeing Gifty in a tug-of-war with her beliefs was interesting. Her soul is laid bare in this book, and at an early age, she’s forced to grow up. I flew through this book, but not necessarily to see how the plot unfolds, like with most books. But, I just wanted to keep spending time with Gifty and seeing her evolve. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Gyasi’s next book. Count me as a fan.
Pleasant Nights 