Ahhhhhhh this book is just so beautiful!! I absolutely adore Yaa Gyasi’s writing and her stories, and Transcendent Kingdom delivers so much depth, humanity, and thought to the reader. I could not put it down and I will be returning to it again and again.

Gifty is in her sixth year as a PhD candidate in neuroscience, studying reward-seeking behavior in mice, with the long-term aim to discover how to cure depression and addiction in humans. Her brilliant scientific mind intersects with her evangelical upbringing in the Deep South, and she is still looking for ways to come to terms with the death of her older brother when he was in his teens, and the recurring depression in her mother. It’s actually difficult to summarize this book to include all areas, because there are so many layers and depths, so many themes that intersect seamlessly to create a story of life lived amongst faith, fear, mental illness, systemic racism, family, death, grief, and a longing for something more.

What I loved the most about this book is that the reader discovers something new about Gifty’s life on every page: while the main narrative takes place as Gifty is finishing her PhD candidacy, it jumps back in time to different places in Gifty’s life where we learn about Nana, her brother, about her father, and her mother. I love a story that reveals itself gently, where you draw a picture of the characters as you read. I also really enjoyed Gifty’s inner turmoil, grappling with her love for and belief in hard science, but also her pull towards religion, something that many of us with religious upbringings often think about. And then, all of the layers in this book, the way Yaa Gyasi is able to weave the intricacies of growing up Ghanian in Alabama, dealing with everyday racist slurs and comments, addiction and depression, and also relationships between family members, and friendships. 

Just beautiful. I recommend this book to everyone (and also Yaa Gyasi, first novel, Homegoing, if you haven’t read it already!