Tayari Jones’s novel Kin follows two young girls who yearn for their missing mothers while finding comfort in their lifelong friendship. As in her previous novels, Jones explores families formed not by biology or duty, but through love and commitment. She writes deftly about bonds that are deep, unbreakable, and true. The novel is filled with wit, intelligence, and a profound understanding of the bonds between women. Her characters’ dialogue feels both authentic and lyrical, and with restraint she captures the brand of sexism, racism, and classism that permeated the American South in the 1950s.
The story begins in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, where Annie and Vernice (Niecy) are born to neighboring families. Soon, both infants are motherless: Annie’s mother is killed by her father, and Vernice’s mother abandons her while she is still an infant. Other family members step into the breach, and the girls are raised as “cradle friends.”
The girls remain inseparable through high school, sharing their yearning for the mothers they never knew. Their lives then take different paths. Niecy enrolls at Spelman College and becomes part of a powerful sisterhood of Black women, while Annie travels to Nashville, determined to find the mother who deserted her. Both young women struggle with feelings of loss and abandonment. Although their divergent paths create a class divide between them, they remain loyal to one another.
Jones does not dwell on the persistent racism of the world in which the girls live, but bigotry is ubiquitous. Toward the end of the novel, however, the emerging Civil Rights Movement comes into focus.
Jones has written a beautiful book about two girls who become kin to one another. Because their bond is rooted not in biology or obligation, but in a shared history, it is even stronger. Even when that bond is tested, Niecy and Annie’s connection remains unbroken. Kin is a moving exploration of the love that connects people. 4/5