Plot Summary – Transcendent Kingdom is a searing story story of love, loss and redemption, and the myriad ways we try to rebuild our lives from the rubble of our collective pasts

★★★★ 

I had a deeply reflective and introspective time with Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom. It was a book that made me feel like my opinion of it was going on a rollercoaster ride as I read it. The prose is incredible. These are some of the most well-written and poetic lines I’ve ever read. They never come off as performative or artificial, the depth is real, and you feel it when reading. The experiences of the book, while fictional, feel true and lived in. I feel like the narrator is a real person. This is a very difficult thing to achieve, especially when you’re writing about a specific culture and topic. Nothing about this book was cliche or predictable. I found true beauty in the writing. The story is deeply captivating although it does have a slow start. I love how all the characters in the book are introduced to the reader, and I always loved hearing Gifty’s (the narrator) little thoughts and observations about each person she interacted with. The main flaw of the book is that it feels incomplete and unorganized. I don’t really think the non-linear narrative helps in any way and just serves to keep the reader on their feet. I still cannot for the life of me understand the timeline of the book as it seems like she jumps around so much that ages begin to blur and I don’t know when anything happened. Another problem was that the book feels like it’s a prequel or a preamble to a real story in the way it’s written. We keep cutting between the past and the present but I feel the past which was more interesting should have been the sole focus. The constant cutting back makes us feel like the present is important, but that storyline doesn’t go anywhere and leaves you feeling dissatisfied. That being said, the book never stops being entertaining, and it definitely does not give you fodder for introspection. I had a good time with this book and would recommend it to people who like psychological books or like learning about other cultures and habits!