鈥楾ranscendent Kingdom鈥� offers quiet hope in the face of racism
In Yaa Gyasi's second novel, the daughter of a troubled immigrant family finds a way to combine science and faith in her career as a neuroscientist.
In Yaa Gyasi's second novel, the daughter of a troubled immigrant family finds a way to combine science and faith in her career as a neuroscientist.
The Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi was in her mid 20s when she rose to literary fame with 鈥淗omegoing,鈥� an award-winning novel that traces the legacy of American slavery through eight generations. Where 鈥淗omegoing鈥� was a sweeping epic, migrating between Africa鈥檚 Gold Coast and the United States, her latest novel 鈥淭ranscendent Kingdom鈥� is a deep dive into one immigrant family鈥檚 struggles to realize the American dream, as told by the daughter Gifty. Set mainly in Huntsville, Alabama, and narrower in scope than the first book, 鈥淭ranscendent Kingdom鈥� is no less ambitious and timely in the themes it tackles.聽
Gifty, as her name suggests, possesses exceptional intelligence and curiosity, as does her older brother Nana, who is also an outstanding athlete. The question is whether these gifts can be realized, because of the family's status as African immigrants to the South with no network of extended family or friends. Gifty鈥檚 experience in Huntsville (where Gyasi also spent her formative years) serves as a microcosm for the way racism grinds down Black Americans, whether in the over-prescription of painkillers that has led to the opioid crisis, the racist underpinnings and politicization of the local evangelical church, or the racial animus of soccer dads who hurl slurs when Nana outperforms their sons on the field.
Gyasi excels at showing the interwoven nature of these evils and the stress they place on Black lives. Her depiction of what Nana experiences as a teenager whose athleticism is valued over his intellectual potential and mental health is particularly wrenching. Nana, facing an injury and subsequent bout with addiction, is treated as expendable by his community, and that devaluation takes its toll. Their father must similarly navigate the white community鈥檚 mistrust of him as a tall, dark-skinned man聽鈥� a pressure and constraint that exacts a severe cost.聽
While these themes may not make for the lightest read, there is hope in Gifty鈥檚 journey and a call for empathy. Driven by a desire to uncover a cure for addiction, Gifty finds her calling in neuroscience, immersing herself in her lab at Stanford 鈥� episodes from her youth are recounted as flashbacks. Her lifestyle may be spartan, but she has friends (well, one very loyal and persistent friend) and a love interest. Counseling against the impulse to judge addicts, she notes: 鈥淚, too, have spent years creating my little moat of good deeds in an attempt to protect the castle of myself. 鈥� I know that it鈥檚 easier to say 鈥楾heir kind does seem to have a taste for drugs,鈥� easier to write all addicts off as bad and weak-willed people, than it is to look closely at the nature of their suffering.鈥�
The theme of salvation is at the novel鈥檚 heart, shaping Gifty鈥檚 her life, whether in fierce attempts to cure her lab mice of addiction or rouse her mother from a debilitating depression. Gyasi鈥檚 portrayal of Gifty's spiritual journey is refreshing in that a negative experience with her church does not cause her to reject 海角大神ity altogether, though she wrestles mightily with her faith. One brief scene recalls Langston Hughes鈥� classic story 鈥淪alvation,鈥� in which a boy, called on by his pastor to be saved, fakes his come-to-Jesus moment. Gyasi鈥檚 rendering of a parallel moment for Gifty takes a different turn, serving not as a rebuke, but a counternarrative. Just as Gyasi unflinchingly spotlights the failures of evangelicalism, she casts an equally critical eye on the knee-jerk scorn with which atheists can sometimes treat religion during scenes set during Gifty鈥檚 undergraduate years at Harvard. Gifty marks out her own path, then, in the face of great personal tragedy.聽
Gifty鈥檚 relationship with her mother is also unusual and deeply affecting. Her mother鈥檚 indefinite retreat to bed during a bout of depression frames 鈥淭ranscendent Kingdom,鈥� and Gifty鈥檚 anxiety and attempts to nurse her feel all too real. The mother-daughter relationship is intense and fraught, yet it's also undergirded by love.
The only weakness of 鈥淭ranscendent Kingdom鈥� comes at its rather too-tidy conclusion, but this is a slight quibble in a novel that insightfully explores many pressing issues of our time, and in marrying science with faith, explores the limits and possibilities of both.
Elizabeth Toohey is an associate professor of English at Queensborough Community College, CUNY and a Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.