Mother Love

When I heard that Tayari Jones was publishing a new novel, I immediately ordered it from my local library and was first in the queue when it came out this month. I loved Jones' previous novel, An American Marriage (2018), which won the Women's Prize for Fiction, was named one of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times, and was my favourite fiction of 2018. So I had high expectations for her new novel Kin (2026).

In Honeysuckle, Louisiana, in the 1950s, two infant girls become "cradle friends' when they lose their mothers. Vernice 'Niecy' Davis' mother is murdered, leaving her orphaned. Her spinster Aunt Irene comes home from a new life in Ohio to care for the baby even though she claims she is 'no good with children', and is determined to raise her to become a respectable woman. Annie Lee was abandoned by her 'trifling' mother Hattie, who was off 'doing GodKnowsWhat, out in GodKnowsWhere'. Left to be raised by her Grannie, Annie has a constant yearning for her mother. The two girls grow up side-by-side, the best of friends, cared for by their kin and the broader community. But as they reach adulthood, it is clear they have distinctly different life trajectories. Will their friendship survive as they go their seperate ways, or will they become strangers to one another?

Niecy is accepted into Spelman College, an historically Black women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. She takes with her the hopes of her aunt and the other women who helped raise her, that she will become educated and meet a good man, and never end up in a town like Honeysuckle, breaking the cycle of poverty and disadvantage. Here she befriends her roommate Joette and gains a window into a new world of class and race, among a community of early civil rights activists. Determined to become what is expected of her, she may have to give up what she wants.

Meanwhile, Annie is off to Memphis, Tennessee, the last known location of her mother Hattie Lee. She is obsessed with finding and reconnecting with her mother, and has a romanticised view of their reunion. She journeys with her friends Clyde, Babydoll and Bobo, and their experiences along the way and in Memphis show a different experience of class and race as they struggle to find work and build lives. Will Annie ever find the mother love she has longed for her whole life?

For much of the novel, the two friends are geographically apart but remain close through letter writing and occasional visits. It is clear that they have only shared their true selves with each other, and despite the growing gulf between their life courses they remain committed to one another. A few years later, when they need each other most, they need to test the loyalties in their new lives and the deep bond of kinship they share, and make a difficult choice.

I loved Kin and the way in which Tayari Jones has created these vivid characters. Told in a similar way to An American Marriage, Jones alternates chapters in first-person narrative between the two women, and in doing so readers share their longing. I won't say more about the plot, for fear of spoilers, but there is a lot of complexity here and I appreciated the way Jones explored identity, race, class and gender in such a thoughtful and realistic way. I was saddened when it ended, as I wanted their story to continue. This is a brilliant novel and one that would fuel excellent discussions in a book club.  

In May I will be seeing Tayari Jones at the Sydney Writers' Festival. I am looking forward to hearing her speak about this novel, and being surrounded by other fans of her work.