• Transcendent Kingdom

  • A novel (A Read with Jenna Pick)
  • By: Yaa Gyasi
  • Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
  • Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,538 ratings)

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Transcendent Kingdom  By  cover art

Transcendent Kingdom

By: Yaa Gyasi
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
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Publisher's summary

New York Times Best Seller • A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick! • Finalist for the Women's Prize

Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.

Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.

Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief - a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut.

©2020 Yaa Gyasi (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK!
FINALIST FOR WOMEN'S FICTION PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Harper’s Bazaar ● NPR ● Good Housekeeping ● Glamour ● Book Riot ● Library JournalWashington Post ● Amazon ● Marie Claire ● Kirkus Reviews ● Vanity FairEntertainment WeeklyTown and Country ● Indigo ● BBC ● USA Today ● Parade ● Real Simple ● Apartment Therapy ● Refinery29

"Gyasi sometimes reminds me of other writers who’ve addressed the immigrant experience in America—Jhumpa Lahiri and Yiyun Li in particular.... As in the work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or the Ghanaian-American short-story writer Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, the African immigrants in this novel exist at a certain remove from American racism, victims but also outsiders, marveling at the peculiar blindnesses of the locals...brilliant... Transcendent Kingdom trades the blazing brilliance of Homegoing for another type of glory, more granular and difficult to name." —Nell Freudenberger, The New York Times Book Review

Featured Article: Must-Hear Contemporary Black Women Authors


It’s a fact that a high percentage of the best books that have come out in this century have been written by Black women authors. (Truth be told, there are so many excellent works that this list could simply centered on the best contemporary authors and still be accurate.) Nevertheless, Black women’s stories deserve to be heard, and when the stories are this compelling, this engaging, and this beautifully written, they’re impossible to ignore.

What listeners say about Transcendent Kingdom

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written

This is an amazing story that brings to life trauma that the southern evangelical church quietly places in young spirits.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Must listen

I haven’t read a lot of fiction in the last few years but I so glad I indulged in this. It was just as rewarding and beneficial as my non fiction favs. I know I left with more wisdom, knowledge and understanding of myself and others. 5 stars and many recommendations. Bahni Turpin was the best voice for Gifty
on Audible. Definitely reading another book by Yaa Gyasi.

Mental illness and the church
The Bible—the truth & the lies told about it
Relatable Emotions
Love—the kind that just touches the surface to the deepest kind that can’t fit into words
Relationships...their complicated
People have so many layers
We are complicated
Beautifully strung together words that ignited all five senses
Religion plays a huge part of the lives where it has been the foundation...some good to great, some bad to horrible
The humans response to pain varies in a rainbow of ways that can’t be explained away with a simple word or diagnosis
Family. Immigration. Prestige. Poverty. Racism. Life. Death.
JUST READ IT!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Such a well done story and audio performance

Intricate weaving story of love, loss, roller coaster of depression, addiction, and search for self and meaning. Thought provoking, compelling, and wonderful character development. Highly recommend

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I grew up like this...

I grew up Pentecostal. In ways, I can tell Yaa Gyasi did her research... or grew up Pentecostal. This is a good listen.

4 stars for this reason: The storyteller does get “preachy.” It seems a he uses the Main character, Gifty, as a way to tell the world all of her personal feelings. When Gifty would go into these drawn out explanations of her thoughts concerning God or how the reader should feel about a social topic, I felt it was a kind of an indoctrination.

I would suggest this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Thought provoking, beautifully written

It’s hard to believe this is only Yaa Gyasi’s second novel- I am so excited to follow her literary career. She has a way of discussing powerful themes like racism, addiction, religion, and science in a way that is intimate and thought provoking. Her range is amazing, too- this book is so very different than her first- Homegoing, which was equally incredible. Don’t miss reading this book!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

thought provoking

Lots to chew on. Good start, great middle, ending limited home. Bahni Turpin was FANTASTIC narrator!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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terrific book

terrific story and terrific writing. the voice over was great too. can’t wait to read more from this author!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

This was an excellent book! I highly recommend it to everyone. Simply beautiful and meaningful!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Story that keeps you reading

Love the book and felt that a lot of us with immigrant parents can relate. Beautiful story

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Loved this book! Performance outstanding

I wonder how this book would have been had I been the reader. As I have found from listening to enough books on Audible, the narration can make or break book impact and even meaning. This reader was absolutely the best I have heard. She made these personalities come alive. Bravo. Applause!

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