Trying desperately to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother’s life, she turned to science for answers, and her philosophical musings on the conflict between Christianity and science, were thought-provoking. Her upbringing in the Christian faith, which saw her writing daily letters to God in her journal frequently jarred with her chosen career as a scientist. Yaa deftly creates in Gifty a character who is clearly the subject of her surroundings and experiences. With themes of abandonment, suicide and depression playing out within Gifty’s family, it’s not an easy read. There is a genuinely tangible sadness to Yaa’s storytelling. “There is a genuinely tangible sadness to Yaa’s storytelling.” When her father and brother finally, and tragically, succumb to the harsh realities of immigrant life in the American South, the family of four becomes two. The reality of what happened to the family is heart-breaking and they struggled to find their happily ever after.

Gifty’s first-person recollections bring to life the harrowing story of her family’s relocation from Ghana to Alabama, a move instigated by her mother, who wanted to seek a ‘better life’ for her young family. Her mother and father, initially a golden couple, met while they were both in Ghana and when they welcomed their son (Nana) into the family, everything was perfect until her mother started hankering for a move to the US. Gifty is the younger child in the family of four.

“Skilfully linking the past with the present is something that Yaa does seamlessly throughout the novel.” Skilfully linking the past with the present is something that Yaa does seamlessly throughout the novel. A few sentences later we meet her as an adult scientist working in her lab at the University of Stanford in the US. Spanning three decades, the novel introduces us to our protagonist Gifty, when she is 11 years old and living in Ghana. I never read Homecoming, but I’d read enough glowing reviews about Yaa Gyasi’s first novel to anticipate that Transcendent Kingdom would be a gripping read. Image credit: Peter Hurley/Vilcek FoundationĪ confession. Transcendent Kingdom, a poignant and gritty story of a Ghanaian family who left the motherland for America, is Yaa Gyasi’s second novel, following her internationally bestselling debut Homecoming.

Homecoming novel yaa gyasi