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I went into this book with high expectations having previously loved Homegoing by the same author (if you haven’t yet read it I would highly recommend doing so). I have to say that whilst I think Homegoing has wide spread appeal, I’m not sure this book would suit everyone. Though I loved it.
Transcendent Kingdom is the story of Gifty, a neuroscientist trying to understand the nature of addiction and depression through her work following the sad loss of her brother. As an adult Gifty also finds herself trying to take care of her mother who suffers with depression (though her mother does not acknowledge this) and to reconcile her religious upbringing with her more secular adult life. All whilst wading through her own sense of loss and grief.
I loved Gifty’s voice in this; it almost reads like a memoir and I think Yaa Gyasi is masterful in her storytelling. You feel every element of her conflicting feelings and it’s such a heart-breaking and honest account. It’s a short book making it an incredibly quick read but the impact is not lessened in any way. It felt like every single word had a purpose and a point; there is no extraneous waffle or gap filling here and the story is all the more striking for it.
Gyasi has a way of bringing realism into her stories also; parts of the narrative were humorous, parts were relatable, parts were frustrating and other parts were utterly devastating.
Where I think the book may lose some readers is the constant reference to religion and bible verses, which some people may not enjoy. As a person who had a religious upbringing and still maintains a faith, I thought the author hit many points right on the nose. I continue to think and chuckle about the memory Gifty recounts to us of developing a reputation for praying for the pets of her friends. Again, the way Gyasi crafts the story makes Gifty’s recountings both amusing and sad all in the telling.
It is worth saying again that this book won’t be for everyone. I personally felt it differed a fair amount in writing style, storytelling and content from Homegoing which may lose some readers. For me, it put Gyasi on my auto-buy author list. An easy 5 star read.
