A review by mitskacir
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

5.0

This was an extremely thought-provoking book about the answers that religion and science can and cannot provide. The setting alternates between the present day, where neuroscientist PhD student Gifty studies reward-seeking behavior and restraint in lab mice, and her childhood growing up in a Ghanaian family living in Alabama and its backdrop of racism, misogyny, stigma against mental illness and addiction, and evangelism. The story focuses on her relationship with her mother, particularly after the death of her brother, Nana, from a drug overdose, and Gifty's relationship with God. Gifty's relationship with God is complicated and nuanced, and changes over the course of her life, but is always present in some way, from relying on Him, to feeling abandoned, to rejecting His existence, to seeking Him. It is a beautiful illustration of someone who is looking for the places were religion and science overlap, and where neither are satisfactory. A really painful book, but very beautiful too.