Transcendent Kingdom cover art

Transcendent Kingdom

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the bestselling author of Homegoing comes a searing
novel of love and loss, addiction and redemption, straight from the heart of contemporary America.

As a child Gifty would ask her parents to tell the story of their journey from Ghana to Alabama, seeking escape in myths of heroism and romance. When her father and brother succumb to the hard reality of immigrant life in the American South, their family of four becomes two - and the life Gifty dreamed of slips away.

Years later, desperate to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother's life, she turns to science for answers. But when her mother comes to stay, Gifty soon learns that the roots of their tangled traumas reach farther than she ever thought. Tracing her family's story through continents and generations will take her deep into the dark heart of modern America.

'I would say that Transcendent Kingdom is a novel for our time (and it is) but it is so much more than that. It is a novel for all times. The splendor and heart and insight and brilliance contained in the pages holds up a light the rest of us can follow' Ann Patchett

'Absolutely transcendent. A gorgeously woven narrative . . . not a word or idea out of place. THE RANGE. I am quite angry this is so good' Roxane Gay

'A stirringly gifted writer' New York Times

© Yaa Gyasi 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

African American Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction United States World Literature Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

A brilliant novel, with not a word out of place (Caleb Azumah Nelson)
A piercing story of faith, science and the opioid crisis . . . Transcendent Kingdom really sings. There's bravery as well as beauty here
Transcendent Kingdom is a novel for all times
Absolutely transcendent. A gorgeously woven narrative . . . not a word or idea out of place. I am quite angry this is so good
Transcendent Kingdom is a quietly magnificent novel - vivid, touching and beautifully written, and also unafraid to be, and to remain, really very sad.
Her equally outstanding second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, smaller in scale, is another graceful exploration of trauma reverberating through a family...introspective and intimate
This novel is an unflinching account of loss, but it is also a moving tribute to the ability of the human spirit to endure such tragedies
Gyasi's novel is a thoughtful analysis of a pressing social problem
Among other things [Transcendent Kingdom] is a sharp reckoning with the tensions between race, science and religion...its scope is pared back, its register intimate - not many writers can switch style like this
A powerful portrayal of love and faith that reminds us how our parents' actions can ripple through generations
All stars
Most relevant
As a Ghanaian Briton with an extremely religious mother, this novel spoke to something deep, deep in me. I loved its brutal honesty. Truly wonderful

A painful, beautiful rendering of diaspora

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A Ghanaian migrant family in Alabama look for redemption in God but the challenges and reality of life make tge narrator reflect on her faith.

A novel about science and faith

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Beautifully written and narrated.
A story so pure and very real that touches on so many real issues in such a sensitive yet assertive way.

Just brilliant

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This book is about searching for one’s identity after living Ghana for Alabama as well as delving into the pain of loss and search for the root of addiction in a deeply religious family. Gifty’s family move from Ghana to the US, her parents wanting a better life for Gifty and her brother, but as most stories go, the story does not pan out smoothly. I found this book extremely thought-provoking and also quite sad. X

Sad but uplifting too!

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a family tale of loss and identity. really interesting. voice actor did a great job.

fascinating and heart breaking

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