Transcendent kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The novel of the Ghanaian writer Yaa Gyasi tells the story of Gifty, a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose and 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 as she turns to science to unravel the mystery, her past resurfaces, particularly the evangelical church in which she was raised. The novel questions religion and science in the face of familial loss and addiction. It portrays also the struggle of a family of Ghanaian immigrants.

YAA GYASI was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. At the age of 26, she won several prizes for her debut novel and best seller « Homegoing ». Among these prizes: the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book and the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.