Yaa Gyasi's second novel is one of the most incredible bits of fiction I have read for some time. It follows a neuroscientist named Gifty. Her Ghana-born parents immigrated to the USA when she was small, and the novel deals with the struggles that follow as her parents try to settle in to life as Americans. As she grows up and becomes a scientist, she starts to wrestle with how complicated questions of faith and culture intersect with her education.

I have never read a novel that so beautifully captures the wonders and shortcomings of science without sounding overly philosophical or preachy. Gyasi unpacks for the reader how questions of death and humanity are unsatisfactorily answered by science and faith alike as Gifty struggles with grief, addiction, and familial obligation. I found this novel deeply moving and engaging; I don't think I have cried so much reading a book since I read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking.

If you enjoyed @brandonlgtaylor 's Real Life (which you should have it was bloody amazing), I strongly urge you to pick up this. It really is amazing - EASILY my book of the year so far.

Thanks to @penguinukbooks for the ARC. Transcendent Kingdom is out on 4 March in the UK (and I believe it's out most places already).