Transcendent Kingdom
by Yaa Gyasi
Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2021, Dublin Longlist 2022, Orange Finalist 2021, PEN/Faulkner Longlist 2021
Date Read: February 22, 2022
Gifty’s family is from Ghana but all she’s ever known is Alabama. Much like her name, Gifty has many gifts that help her survive a chaotic upbringing, full of loss and a reserved love when she longed for open affection. We are able to see Gifty as the vulnerable child she was, growing up in a racist south, and the woman she has become – an intelligent, searching scientist, looking for answers where there are likely to be none.
Gifty’s first loss is that of her father, the Chin Chin Man, who is unable to take the otherness of his black skin in Alabama and retreats back to Ghana with promises to return. Of course, his presence never materializes and he starts another family in Ghana, leaving Gifty, her mother and her brother, Nana, to fend for themselves. What was a meager two-income family dwindles down to one low-paid caregiver’s salary.
Nana, though, is the hero of the family, talented at just about any sport he tries. First, his obsession is soccer which he abandons after some racist comments from an opponent’s parents. Humiliated, he hangs up his cleats for good, his mother never questioning his sudden decision. And then he is encouraged to try basketball and on the court is where Nana really comes alive. He can almost do no wrong, winning every game and becoming a hometown hero where just about everyone knows his name.
An ankle injury briefly sidelines his glory and a prescription to OxyContin completely derails it. Not long into his second refill do his mother and Gifty realize Nana has become an addict. What lies ahead is an excruciating journey of hope and loss, with loss winning out. Only a few years after his injury, Nana is found dead of an overdose. This is a loss Gifty will forever seek answers yet never speak of – her loss too profound for words.
Gifty was raised Evangelical and she seeks answers from her faith and from science. Some would consider these approaches diametrically opposed but Gifty sees a broad approach. What causes some humans to use retraint and others to lose control? Why does God let some heal and others suffer? Why did Gifty have to lose her brother to addiction and her mother to depression, leaving her completely alone? In time, science and faith cannot answer these utterly human questions.
Gyasi offers such an intimate window into the suffering caused by addiction and loss. I could feel the wounds, fresh and pulsing, left by both Nana and her mother’s absence. In the wake of these wounds, Gifty is unable to let anyone in, until finally, at some indeterminate point in the future, she does. And all you want to do is celebrate. Her hurt isn’t ameliorated, but the acute pain is blunted by companionship.
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