At once a vivid evocation of the immigrant experience and a sharp delineation of an individual's inner struggle, the novel brilliantly succeeds on both counts.' - Publishers Weekly, starred review 'With deft agility and undeniable artistry, Gyasi's latest is an eloquent examination of resilient survival.' - Booklist I am quite angry this is so good.' - Roxane Gay A gorgeously woven narrative about a woman trying to survive the grief of a brother lost to addiction and a mother trapped in depression while pursuing her ambitions. The splendor and heart and insight and brilliance contained in the pages holds up a light the rest of us can follow.' - Ann Patchett

'I would say that Transcendent Kingdom is a novel for our time (and it is) but it is so much more than that. Yaa Gyasi is one of the most enlightening novelists writing today.' - The Washington Post A double helix of wisdom and rage twists through the quiet lines of this novel. The first-person narration deftly hops through time, the details of Gifty’s past informing our understanding of her present: Her family’s immigration from Ghana the abandonment of her father, who returns to Ghana to start anew and never looks back the racism of the deep South, both casual and cutting – a boy in kindergarten telling Gifty she’s not a princess because “Black people can’t be princesses,” and the old man with Parkinson’s her mom cared for calling her the n-word every day the journal entries young Gifty began with the words “Dear God,” praying sometimes for her brother’s death to be freed from his addiction.'A book of blazing brilliance. 'Decolonize your bookshelf: Little libraries, book boxes promote conversation about race in America The most recent wave brings her from Alabama to stay with Gifty, bedridden in the catatonic thrall of a major depressive episode as Gifty searches for answers in mice.ĥ books not to miss: Yaa Gyasi's 'Transcendent Kingdom,' Emma Cline's 'Daddy' The loss traumatized Gifty’s mother, whose debilitating depression comes in waves. Once an electric athlete, he was reduced by drugs to animal need, chasing highs for three years until he was found dead of an overdose.

That brother – Gifty’s older brother, Nana – is long dead, a young casualty of opioid addiction following a basketball injury and a careless Oxycontin prescription.

Transcendent kingdom yaa gyasi review