Book Review: "Kin" by Tayari Jones

“No matter who your mama is, or how long she’s been gone, you can’t help but miss her. When you are born, she marks you with her milk, even if you never tasted her breast. That’s not hoodoo, it’s just the way the body and the spirit come together to make you a person.”

There’s something about the way Tayari Jones writes that draws me in from the very first page. And this, her newest book, is so beautifully written and so perceptive in the way it captures loss, chosen family, friendship, and love.

Vernice (aka “Niecy”) and Annie have known each other practically from birth. Growing up in the small town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana, both girls were motherless. Niecy’s mother died when she was very young and her Aunt Irene raised her, while Annie’s mother left her in the care of her mother. The sense of being left behind pervaded both of their lives.

What Niecy wants more than anything is to be a mother and wife, to have a normal life. She goes to attend Spelman College, where she tries to blend in as much as she can, but for the first time she is introduced to a world where Black women can be powerful and privileged.

Meanwhile, trying to find her mother is the one thing that occupies Annie’s mind. She takes off one night with a young man she likes and two others and heads for Memphis, where her mother has supposedly moved to. But the journey to Memphis—and to finding her mother—is a circuitous one, seeing her experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

There is so much emotion in this book, and not all of it is out in the open. The relationship between Niecy and Annie is rich with love, struggle, strength, and guidance, and their connection is a powerful one even when they don’t see each other and they live different lives. I really felt this book in my heart.