I couldn’t put this book down! Set against the backdrop of Atlanta and the Jim Crow South, Jones’s beautiful prose transported me into the world of Annie and Niecey, two motherless, “cradle friends,” searching for their place in the world. The novel confronts race, class, and womanhood with honesty and nuance, while never losing sight of the tenderness and complexity of its characters. Equal parts devastating, hopeful, and unexpectedly funny, this coming-of-age story explores the lengths we go to discover who we are, and the sacrifices we make to become who we think we should be.
Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)
Reviewed by Tyler, Wild Aster Books in Chamblee, Georgia