Yaa Gyasi reads an excerpt from her novel "Transcendent Kingdom," with sound design and music composition from Tim Karplus. Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. Her debut novel, Homegoing, was awarded the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first book of fiction, the National Book Foundation’s “5 under 35” honors for 2016, and the American Book Award. She lives in Brooklyn.  Tim Karplus has been working as a professional musical jack-of-all-trades in Portland, Oregon for the last 9 years. When he's not playing guitar, bass, drums or keyboards with noted Portland acts such as Haley Johnsen, The Weather Machine, and Anna Tivel, Tim can be found teaching music lessons, writing songs, and producing recordings at various studios in the greater Portland area. Currently, Tim is working on a solo record while sound-mixing for the Storybound podcast. This episode is brought to you by: W.W. Norton, publisher of Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane. Get you copy wherever books are sold, now available in paperback. Audible. Visit Audible.com/Storybound or text Storybound to "500-500" for a free audiobook. Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices