TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM

Bahni Turpin uses her considerable talent as a narrator to become Gifty, a Ghanaian-American woman juggling her family's many addictions and losses. Turpin's gentle, pensive tone helps us feel the turmoil within Gifty when she turns to the sciences to understand why some people sink into mental-health issues. The narrator's sharp, quick pace captures Gifty's strong inner monologue, which is contrasted with the passivity of the family members around her. Turpin's performance has listeners leaning in to empathize as Gifty's mother lives out her remaining days in bed and her brother dies from a drug overdose. We are treated to a unique blend of cultures as Gifty grapples with their collective family experience as African immigrants in Alabama. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2020]