Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
It’s wild how different Yaa Gyasi’s novels are from each other, and yet they’re both so good. I feel like Gyasi’s Homegoing gets a lot of love, and rightfully so, but Transcendent Kingdom is one of my favorite books ever. This novel is an honest and heartbreaking examination of grief, loss, and how losing someone can tear a family (and individual people) apart. It’s a reflection of religion and its relationship to science, community, culture, the grieving process, and so much more. It’s a coming-of-age story. Basically, it’s everything.
This novel follows Gifty, a graduate student studying neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine. Hoping to make sense of the world she lives in and the horrible things she’s experienced in her own life, Gifty is studying the science behind depression and addiction. Her brother died of a heroin overdose after a sports injury left him addicted to OxyContin. Since the death of her brother, Gifty’s mother has fallen into a deep depression, barely able to make it out of her bed. It’s difficult to find meaning in a world where so many terrible things happen all the time, and there is so much sadness, but Gifty is searching.
Even though Gifty is a science-minded person, she grew up in a faith-based home. Religion has always been a huge part of her family’s life. As Ghanaian immigrants living in the American South, Gifty’s family found a community in an evangelical church. Gifty has experienced firsthand both the warmth and alienation one can experience as part of a strict religious community. The church still feels like a significant part of her life, but neither the church nor science seems to provide all the answers.
The hunt for meaning and order in a world that can seem so chaotic—especially after immense, unfathomable loss—is something I understand on a very personal level. I was completely floored by way this novel so accurately expresses the pain and confusion of grief that never truly leaves you. In my copy of this novel, there are pages of this book that are crinkly and permanently stained with tears, that’s how hard I cried during parts of this book.
But as devastating as this story was, I also felt like I was given time to breathe. There were moments of levity in Gifty’s journey. Moments where I laughed out loud. Moments where I felt hopeful. Books about grief are so hard, but also so important because each and every one of us will experience loss in our lifetime. Not just once but many times. This book absolutely nailed that experience on every level.
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