Transcendent Kingdom tells the story of Gifty, a Black woman and scientist who was raised in Alabama to Ghanian parents. The narrative focuses heavily on the subject of science, mental health, addiction, grief and religion. These subjects are deftly interwoven into the exploration of Gifty's life and beliefs and most importantly become central to exploration of her relationships with her mother and brother.

The themes at times make the novel a heavy read, particularly the focuses on addiction, grief and mental health. However it felt really well handled and Gyasi's exploration of grief really touched me.

Gyasi packs a lot of social criticism into this book as she explores masculinity, gender, race and women's role and place in STEM. I have seen a few criticisms of the book for the focus on science, but I actually really liked the focus. I have read so few books about women in science, nevermind Black women in science and that is a narrative we need to see for women and girls to believe that science is for them.

I will say I found the book quite slow at times, but I think this really worked for this narrative as I digested the story slower and it gave me time to think about Gyasi's social commentary and the beauty of her writing.

What I thought was particularly brilliant about this book was the exploration of religion and how Gyasi showed the intersection of faith with Gifty's scientific studies and her upbringing. Gyasi really showed how science and religion which are often considered to be polar opposites can have much more blurred boundaries in a person's life.

Transcendent Kingdom is a powerful story that felt very different to Homegoing which shows the talent of Yaa Gyasi as an author. If you go into this book expecting another Homegoing you're doing Yaa Gyasi a disservice as an author. Appreciate this book for being brilliant on its own.

Thanks to @feelingmyshelf_ and @penguinukbooks for a copy.