Transcendent Kingdom (Gyasi) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[T]he 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.… [B]rilliant.… Transcendent Kingdom trades the blazing brilliance of Homegoing for another type of glory, more granular and difficult to name.
Nell Freudenberger - New York Times Book Review


Laser-like.… A powerful, wholly unsentimental novel about family love, loss, belonging and belief that is more focused but just as daring as its predecessor, and to my mind even more successful…. [Transcendent Kingdom] is burningly dedicated to the question of meaning…. The pressure created gives her novel a hard, beautiful, diamantine luster.
Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal


A book of blazing brilliance… of profound scientific and spiritual reflection that recalls the works of Richard Powers and Marilynne Robinson…. A double helix of wisdom and rage twists through the quiet lines.…Thank God, we have this remarkable novel.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


A stealthily devastating novel of family, faith and identity that’s as philosophical as it is personal.… It’s bravura storytelling by Gyasi, so different in scope, tone and style from her 2016 debut Homegoing. That, too, was brilliant literature, as expansive as Transcendent Kingdom is interior…. The range Gyasi displays in just two books is staggering.
USA Today


(Starred review) [M]eticulous, psychologically complex…. Gyasi’s constraint renders the emotional impact of the novel all the more powerful…. At once a vivid evocation of the immigrant experience and a sharp delineation of an individual’s inner struggle, the novel brilliantly succeeds on both counts.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) Though it's a departure from her gorgeous historical debut, Homegoing, Gyasi's contemporary novel of a woman's struggle for connection in a place where science and faith are at odds is a piercingly beautiful tale of love and forgiveness. —Sally Bissell, formerly with Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL
Library Journal


(Starred review) Despite compounding challenges and tragedies, Gyasi never allows Gifty to devolve into paralyzing self-absorption and malaise. With deft agility and undeniable artistry, Gyasi’s latest is an eloquent examination of resilient survival.
Booklist


(Starred review)  Gyasi’s wise second novel pivots toward intimacy.…Nowhere does Gyasi take a cheap shot. Instead, she writes a final chapter that gives readers a taste of hard-won deliverance. In a quietly poignant story, a lonely woman finds a way to be less alone
Kirkus Reviews