Book Review Time; Kin, Tayari Jones

It is the American South. The 1960s. Jim Crow segregation is at its height.

Vernice and Annie are from a small country town in Louisiana, called Honeysuckle. They’ve known each other their whole lives. Friends from the cradle. And they share a very specific sense of loss.

They are motherless children.

Vernice, nicknamed Niecy, loses her mother in an act of horrific violence. While Annie’s mother abandons her in infancy. Bonded by their tragic origins, Niecy and Annie are inseparable in childhood.

But as young adults their lives take very different paths.

Niecy, upon graduating from high school, leaves Honeysuckle for the hallowed halls of Spelman College, a prestigious historically black institution in the bustling city of Atlanta, Georgia. A major hub of Black excellence and activism, Atlanta provides an eye opening experience for the young small town girl. And Niecy quickly recognizes the educational and social advantages of college life. In time, she expands her social circle in ways that will cultivate her perceptions of status as well as force her to come to terms with who she truly is.

Annie, for her part, skips town before graduating. She is on a mission. And Annie believes it to be her life’s mission. Her plan is to head to Memphis, Tennessee and find her mother. In spite of repeated advice from others, warning her to do no such thing, Annie is hell-bent, to the point of obsession, on finding and “rescuing” her mother. She and a group of friends eventually make it to Tennessee after a long and arduous journey (which includes a layover in Mississippi, doing odd jobs in a small community of shacks, housing women of ill repute.) Annie’s adventure leads her to romantic love and solid friendships. But her all consuming fixation with a mother she’s never known threatens not only her relationships but her grasp on reality.

Though their paths diverge, Niecy and Annie maintain their friendship through letters describing their lives, their hopes, their fears.  And at the most pivotal moments, they are there for each other. Without question. Without hesitation.

Kin celebrates the incredible women who step into the role of “Mother,” where there isn’t one. Whether by obligation or by choice, these women make incredible sacrifices. Niecy’s Aunt. Annie’s Grandmother. And a host of other women who I cannot name without giving much of the story away. They provide the essentials of life: food, clothing, and shelter. But they also provide the (equally necessary) intangibles: love, support, and guidance.

Kin also spotlights the concept of chosen family. Individuals who we may or may not have a biological connection to, but they hold a place of significance in our lives. These relationships are rooted deep in the earth, defying all mundane definitions of mere friendship.

Tayari Jones beautifully captures the magic of these connections as it relates to Black women. A community in which vulnerability can be safely unmasked, and character is strengthened by wisdom handed down so generously, and support that is never more than phone call away.

~G