Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi
My mother wanted me to help her get him in the car. She hoisted him up by the armpits and I grabbed his legs but I kept dropping them, and then I would start crying and she would yell at me.
The thing I will never forget is that people were watching us do all of this. It was the middle of a workday and there were people out in that park drinking coffee, taking their smoke breaks, and no one lifted a finger. They just watched us with some curiosity. We were three black people in distress. Nothing to see.
It took me a while to read this book because with everything going on, I barely had it in me to keep going. I guess Transcendent Kingdom was the one book I needed to read because the subject matter, faith, is something I’ve been struggling with.
Gifty, a brilliant PhD student in neuroscience at Stanford University (okay Gifty!) is researching reward-seeking behaviors in mice to better understand addiction. Her brother, Nana, died from a heroin overdose after becoming addicted to Oxy due to a sports injury. His death, and her mother’s subsequent depression and suicidal ideations are what fuel Gifty’s work. But she is struggling. Struggling to understand her own grief and also with her faith in God.
Gifty’s back and forth with her faith is something so many of us can relate to, especially when we suffer through some type of trauma. There have been countless times when I’ve listened to or read the news and wondered, “how could God let this happen?” Even now, with so much evil in the United States (like the White House) and all over the world, I wonder how terrible people like 45 and his family can be allowed to do the horrific things they’ve done and seem to be rewarded, while innocent children at the border are neglected, abused and forgotten. I think, what kind of God would let this happen? Gifty is no different and Yaa Gyasi writes Gifty’s doubts with a humanity that feels oh so familiar.
The author outdid herself when she wrote about Nana’s fall from brilliant basketball star to disgraced heroin addict. We see how easily it is for his neighbors and fellow students to turn on him, especially the congregants at his church. The gossiping, the side-eyes and casual racism were not surprising but is still hurtful to read. His mother’s determination and complete faith in God are what drive her to try and save her son. And when the battle is finally lost and her mind and body become weary with grief, her faith is still there, but it may not be enough to save her own life. But we also get to see how Gifty views her brother, mother and fellow classmates and congregants through Nana’s addiction. Through her journal entries and incredibly astute observations, we are met with a young girl trying to survive the trauma in her own home while holding on to what it means to love God.
The book starts out a little slow and it took a few chapters for me to really become invested in the story, but once it got going Transcendent Kingdom became a read definitely worth finishing.
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Yaa Gyasi, author of Transcendent Kingdom.
Photo courtesy of Peter Hurley. For more information about Ms. Gyassi, go to Penguin Randomhouse.
