Kin: Oprah's Book Club: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK •
A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR
“Tayari Jones’s storytelling washed over me like a trip back home. . . . Kin is a masterpiece of a novel that will live with you long after you turn the last page.” —Oprah Winfrey
Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.
A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.
A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR
“Tayari Jones’s storytelling washed over me like a trip back home. . . . Kin is a masterpiece of a novel that will live with you long after you turn the last page.” —Oprah Winfrey
Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.
A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.
BUY THE BOOK
Join a book club that is reading Kin: Oprah's Book Club: A Novel!
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Kin* by Tayari Jones beautifully explores motherhood, kinship, and chosen family through intertwined lives, with powerful storytelling an...
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 don't even know where to start except to say: I absolutely adored this book.
Kin by Tayari Jones completely stole my heart. Every character felt so real, but the friendship between Vernice and Annie was the soul of the story for me. I loved watching them grow, change, and even head in different directions without ever letting go of what they meant to each other. Their friendship wasn't perfect, but it was intentional. They continued to choose each other, and I found that so refreshing and beautiful.
This book made me laugh, reflect, and appreciate the people who stay in our lives through every season. Tayari Jones has such a gift for creating characters who feel like people you actually know.
Without question, it's earned a spot on my favorites shelf. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.