Kin: Oprah's Book Club: A Novel

I was not expecting an ending like that. I was left happy for one yet still sad and sad for another. Ugh...good book though. I am glad I went in blind.

Kin by Tayari Jones is another reminder of why I value reading so deeply. I’m grateful to Tayari Jones for bringing these characters’ lives into my consciousness. As I’ve said before, I appreciate the opportunity to step into the lives of people whose experiences differ from my own and, through that, develop greater understanding and sensitivity to the challenges they have faced. To me, it’s essential to understand not only people’s present circumstances but also the histories and experiences that have shaped them. Stories like this expand our capacity for empathy and help us see our neighbors with greater compassion. This book felt especially poignant in the current moment, as conversations about women’s reproductive rights and women’s rights more broadly continue to shape our society. It reminded me that literature doesn’t just help us understand the past—it can also inspire us to imagine and work toward a better future. I hope books like this encourage us to build a world where every child grows up with greater opportunity, dignity, and justice than the generation before them.

Tayari has written a non-traditional love story or maybe even a series of love stories beautifully woven together through the lives of two characters of precarious beginnings. There are so many quotes but the truest of them all might be "Atlanta is a black soap opera".

I just finished 'Kin' by Tayari Jones. I started it around August 23rd and finished it yesterday, and I've been sitting with it since. I'll be honest — it was a slow start for me. I've noticed that when a book gives me a lot up front, I get confused and I want to put it down. But I challenged myself to keep going, mostly because so many people I know have read this book and I figured, okay, this has to be good. By the third or fourth chapter I was finally settled in. And then I was in it. It's the story of two girls, Vernice — Niecy — and Annie, growing up next door to each other in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, both without their mothers. One lost hers. One was left by hers. They both have some form of mother in their life, just not the real thing. Niecy has her Aunt Irene, and Annie has her grandmother. What struck me was how different those two relationships felt. Irene wasn't warm exactly, but there was a steadiness there. Annie's grandmother was rockier. And you can see how that shaped which way each girl ran. Niecy goes off to Spelman. Annie goes to Memphis to find her mother, because her mother is actually alive out there somewhere. I won't spoil it, but when Annie finally gets there — that's the part that broke me. I'm still chewing on it. I felt for Annie the most. Even with her husband, he couldn't sit with the fact that she just wanted her mama. He couldn't hold that, so he left. And it made me think about how people can want to be with you, really want to be with you, until the real-life stuff shows up. Then they go find something easier to love. Niecy's story got me too, in a quieter way. Finding love with her roommate and never fully letting herself have it, then marrying somebody else. That's its own kind of grief. And I have to say it — I loved the Lulabelle chapters. That was the closest thing Annie got to real kinship, and you could feel her reaching for it. But Lulabelle was always going to be Lulabelle. Even when Annie came back after being told not to come back. That woman was never going to be who Annie needed her to be, and watching Annie keep hoping anyway was hard. I think that's the thing this book does. It's about mothers, but really it's about what we do with the space where a mother was supposed to be. Some of us go looking. Some of us build something new and call it enough. Both of those cost you something. Beautiful read. I'm glad I stayed with it past the slow start.

I really enjoyed the story, especially the lives and relationship of the two girls and the way their personal stories are set against the historical background. The historical detail felt authentic, and I loved how well the language captured the time and place. But above all, the writing was what made this a five-star read for me. It was beautiful and so vivid that I often felt like I was right there with them — in that time and place, knowing these people and somehow becoming part of their story. I especially loved the similes and metaphors; there were so many lovely turns of phrase that stayed with me. The story explored the topics of motherhood, motherlessness, grief, belonging, sisterhood, friendship, real and chosen families and racism which all were emotional, informative and relatable. I loved how Tayari Jones manages to bring so much humour and wit into difficult topics and painful situations. The writing could be moving and serious without ever becoming heavy-handed, and the wit gave the characters and story so much life. The characters and the story stayed with me after finished reading it. Beautifully written, immersive, witty, and emotionally engaging — I loved it.