Review: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi follows Ph.D. candidate and researcher Gifty throughout her childhood to early adulthood. The story focuses on her relationship to religion, her brother, Nana, and his addiction, and her mother's depression. The book is contemplative and clever. The timeline being nonlinear is such a tremendous way to make the story even more dynamic.

I so deeply loved Homegoing; I got my book signed when she came to my University, and I was so awkward because of my awe and so very excited for this book. Unfortunately, I have a very odd behavior where if I don't get to a book I am excited for right away; I avoid the book because I become worried that I won't like it. This worry was very much not justified in this case. I just love the way Yaa Gyasi writes.

The most striking and well-discussed aspect of Homegoing was the incredible structure of the novel. Transcendent Kingdom's structure is also impressive. It beautifully weaves different threads of Gifty's life together, going from childhood to adulthood, to college, then jumping again. Each era of her life is so defined by certain struggles and set pieces it never got confusing. Even though so much of it revolved around the same three people, I was never confused as to when or where we were in the narrative.

The ideas explored in this book are done with such nuance and care, and realism. I was deeply moved by Gifty and her family's emotions and deeply interested in the question being explored by this book. This novel seems rife with rereading potential. It discusses addiction, religion, mental health, our own motivations, race and racism, sexuality, and the way we construct who we are in our own minds. I was so deeply interested in Gifty and so invested in her happiness and success. I also love reading books set places I have lived, and I don't get that much for my childhood spent in Alabama.

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I just want to shove this book into everyone's arms and hope they love it as much as I do. I am struggling to not say too much and spoil the journey. Though it really is a character book, so those are much harder to spoil generally. Basically, I just loved my reading experience.