Kin

A yearning for their missing mothers pulls Vernice and Annie apart. It will take a devastating tragedy to bring them back together.

Vernice and Annie are born days apart in Honeysuckle, Louisiana. More than friends, closer than sisters, together they navigate a childhood bound by love, loyalty, and the shadow of absence — both are destined never to know their mothers. But this is the American South in the 1950s. Black girls like Vernice and Annie have to fight for every opportunity they can.

Gradually, inevitably, the girls drift apart. But when Annie is lured away by the promise of a heady first love affair, a growing obsession with finding her mother pulls her into a world of danger. It is Vernice, her oldest friend, who must risk everything to save her in this exuberant, richly told story about sisterhood, friendship and a lifelong bond that is as dangerous as it is unbreakable.

Praise

“Smart and funny and deftly profound. This is Tayari Jones’s very best work.”
— Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake

“A riveting and deeply moving portrait of indelible female friendship, found family and finding your way… This gorgeous novel already feels like a future classic.”
— Róisín O’Donnell, author of Nesting

About the author

Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, including An American Marriage — winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, an Oprah’s Book Club selection, and a New York Times bestseller — and Silver Sparrow. Her writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Believer, and Callaloo. She is one of the most celebrated voices in contemporary American fiction, known for her rich, humane storytelling about family, the American South, and the bonds that hold us together.

Perfect for readers of

Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, Toni Morrison, Jacqueline Woodson, Ann Patchett, and anyone who loves richly drawn stories of female friendship and the American South.