Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (✰✰✰✰)

Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, which traced the descendants of two sisters, one a slave and one the
wife of an African slave trader, was an instant hit when it was published in 2016. Her newest offering, Transcendent Kingdom, is a very, very different novel but still strong in its own way. I loved the complexity of plot and characterization that were hallmarks of Homegoing; it was a five-star read for me and its audio took my top slot the year I read it.

I was not nearly as taken with Transcendent Kingdom. Instead of the three hundred years and multiple generations that Homegoing covered, Transcendent Kingdom focuses on three people: a mother and her two children. The novel still bridges the same two continents, Africa and the United States, but the central issues are completely different. Set in the present day, the primary issue in Transcendent Kingdom is that of addiction and the effect that it has on a small immigrant family. Community and perception are also touched upon, but the story is far less involved than Homegoing.

The only thing that saved the novel for me was the narration by Bahni Turpin. She made the utmost of those perfect moments of prose that were far less abundant than in Homegoing, bringing the subjects to life with sympathy and realism. If you are new to Yaa Gyasi, though, I would still recommend the audio or print version of Homegoing over Transcendent Kingdom, simply based on the strength of the former novel.