- Light spoilers -

Transcendent Kingdom was tragic and deeply meaningful, full of multi-layered nuance.

Set in Alabama, United States, we follow the main character, Gifty, daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, a promising Stanford university scientist whose field of study is all about Optogenetics and reward seeking behaviour. Through her experiments, she seeks to reconcile with her grief-stricken past and her estrangement with religion.

This book explores such sensitive issues as addiction and severe depression. It uses internal conflict to explore the disconnect between science and religion and challenges whether these two entities are truly mutually exclusive or whether science can also be a question of faith.

It definitely won't resonate with all readers because of the religious discourse, but I didn't feel like it was such an overwhelming presence as to be off-putting, but then again, I was brought up in a religious household so I probably wouldn't take my word for it.

I thought certain parts of the story lagged in the middle and I felt myself having to persevere in places. We didn't really get much from Gifty's character until towards the end of the book. Prior to that, she felt like a very pragmatic, emotionless observer, narrating the sufferings of her brother's descent into addiction and her father’s disillusionment with his new country in a very matter-of-fact way. But towards the end, her walls start breaking down and we start to fully appreciate the extent of her emotional turmoil.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Yaa Gyasi has done it again.