Transcendent Kingdom

A raw story about addiction, mental illness, immigration, race, and religion vs. science. This is the story of Gifty, a Ghanaian-American woman who was raised in Alabama and is now pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at Stanford. Early on, we learn that her older brother died from a drug overdose, and her mother suffers from bouts of major depression. Meanwhile, Gifty works in a lab dedicated to finding neurosciencey ways to fight... addiction and mental illness.

So honestly I would have rated this 3 stars, but the very end killed me. If your life has been touched by mental illness and addiction, this book is just a super sad, super raw read. Gifty is an unpleasant narrator - she's self-righteous, prim, provincial - but she's also, like, just a hurt, “good” girl. Every other character is likewise flawed to the point of being unlikable - at the same time, they're just human. Gifty spends a lot of time working her way through the evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity of her childhood with the STEM world of her adulthood - she uses both to try to explain her hurt, or at least soothe it, and both naturally fail (at least partly). Her life is completely caged by the tragedies of her brother and mom, and watching her try to explore what it means to just live - just enjoy people, have relationships, explore and be curious - was painful. So many fits and starts! So much caution! I do so hope this fictional character discovers Nar-Anon and goes to therapy!!

I love any stories that centralize the experience of immigration; and this certainly had a lot of that. Gifty's parents are Ghanaian immigrants to Alabama. The culture shock, oh man, is REAL. Especially the insidious and structural racism. This kinda reminded me of the wonderful Mississippi Masala (one of my fave movies!), about Indian-Ugandan immigrants to Mississippi. If I would criticize anything about this book, it's that the Alabaman supporting cast felt underdeveloped and thin. Everyone was just kinda a “basic white Southerner” from central casting.