Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing sits as a top contender on the list of my favourite novels of 2020. So, when I heard her sophomore book, Transcendent Kingdom, was coming out in September, I knew I would be picking it up immediately. Speaking to the incredible talent of this author, it did not disappoint. 

Transcendent Kingdom follows Gifty, a Ghanian immigrant and talented neuroscience PhD student. Gifty’s study of reward-seeking behavior in mice is an unabashed attempt at understanding on a micro level the human suffering she has encountered through her brother’s heroin overdose and her mother’s crippling depression. 

Gyasi’s use of a non-linear timeline emphasizes the interconnectedness of Gifty’s studies and her past and present home life. We learn about her adolescent years in Alabama, which shaped her adult character: her idolation of her brother, casual racism at school and in sports, and a questionable sexual education that stamped her with a long-lasting aversion to intimacy.  

A common theme throughout Gifty’s life is a struggle with her faith. While raised in the evangelical faith, by the time she’s in college, Gifty had distanced herself from the church of her youth. 

“I hadn’t figured out how I felt about the Christianity of my childhood, I did know how I felt about my mother. Her devotion, her faith, they moved me. I was protective of her right to find comfort in whatever ways she saw fit. Didn’t she deserve at least that much? We have to get through this life somehow.”

Later she observes a sermon that questions the literalism of other churches and approaches the Bible with thoughtfulness and humanity. In a sense, it grants her the freedom to no longer take at face value the word of the church or of her own mother. As she ages, and learns to methodically investigate the world around her, she begins to find peace and an acceptance of her own life of intellectualism which no longer seemed secular or in opposition to one’s religion. ⁣

In this way, Transcendent Kingdom is simultaneously a broad examination of faith, science, and family and an intimate portrait of a single woman defying the odds of her situation to rise in academia. It is a beautiful novel with an introspective quality that mesmerizes. It centers the black, female, immigrant experience and felt so raw I had to remind myself multiple times it was fiction, and not in fact, a memoir. Although dealing with extremely heavy topics, I felt lighter having lived through Gifty. 

If you are looking for a story to completely envelop you in its world and prompt some serious soul-searching, I highly recommend this novel. 

Looking for something else to read? 

If you’re looking for another immigrant story with a strong focus on blackness in America I recommend checking out Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 

Alternatively, if you want to explore more in the world of families impacted by addiction you might like The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

This book review was written by Emma, of Paperback Press. For more of Emma’s literary takes, check out her amazing bookstagram.