'An American Marriage' author Tayari Jones is out with a new novel 'Kin'

Summary

NPR's Book of the Day: Tayari Jones on "Kin"

Episode Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Andrew Lembong
Guest: Tayari Jones (author of "An American Marriage" and "Kin")
Interviewer: Ayesha Rascoe

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Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with acclaimed author Tayari Jones about her latest novel, "Kin", a historical fiction set in the Jim Crow-era South. The book follows the intertwined lives of two Black girls, Annie and Vernice (called Niecy), who form a lifelong bond amid personal tragedy and societal challenges. Jones discusses her creative process, the central themes of chosen and unchosen family, the weight of history on Black womanhood, and her own journey writing the novel after abandoning a previous project.
Main themes: friendship, mothering (by choice vs. necessity), legacies of trauma, Black Southern experience, and the power of historical memory.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Premise of "Kin"

• [00:02-01:52] The novel centers on Annie and Niecy, "cradle friends" from Louisiana who have both lost their mothers—Annie's mother ran away, and Niecy's was killed in an act of domestic violence.

• Excerpt read by Jones vividly introduces the girls' early bond, highlighting an intimacy that persists despite their growing differences.

  "I kept saying my new word over and over, but Annie was quiet for once, sucking my thumb as though it were her own."
  —Tayari Jones (reading from "Kin," 01:52)

2. Motherlessness and Found Family

• [02:24-04:32] Both girls experience a "mother-shaped hole" in their lives, but process it differently.

  • Niecy seeks a replacement, open to being mothered by her aunt Irene.
  • Annie leaves emotional space "reserved" for her absent mother.

  "Other people found family can absolutely meet your emotional needs, but you have to be willing to let them."
  —Tayari Jones (03:08)

• Jones explores the burdens placed on women who end up raising children not by choice, and how that impacts attachment and mothering.

  "Black women are either stereotyped as terrible mothers or just bottomlessly maternal. And so I was really interrogating, what does it mean to mother by choice, and what does it mean to mother not by choice?"
  —Tayari Jones (04:20)

3. Violence, Safety, and Generational Fear

• [04:32-05:42] A central motif is the legacy of violence against Black women—how Niecy’s aunt admonishes her:

  "Don't ever let no man kill you."
  —Aunt Irene, quoted by Tayari Jones (04:32)

• This phrase recurs as Niecy grows:

  "That is a shadow, a quiet shadow that's been over her life. And I think it's a shadow that hovers over women's lives in general... it's just in the water of womanhood, I think."
  —Tayari Jones (05:29)

4. Setting: Honeysuckle, Louisiana & HBCU Legacy

• [05:42-07:44] The fictional town of Honeysuckle is inspired by Jones' grandmother’s experiences in Oakdale, Louisiana, particularly the legacy of segregation—for example, Black families having to collect mail at the post office.

• Jones connects Niecy’s journey from Honeysuckle to Spelman College, reflecting on the transformative, often overlooked working-class roots of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities):

  "Atlanta is known as the Black Mecca because of its thriving black middle class. But these six historically black colleges and universities... did not merely serve the middle class. They created that middle class."
  —Tayari Jones (07:28)

5. Writing Process & Abandonment of Previous Book

• [07:44-09:53] "Kin" was not the novel Jones was contracted to write; she spent three years failing to produce a book about modern gentrification.

• "Kin" emerged when Jones allowed herself to write freely, discovering Annie and Niecy’s story almost by accident, expecting at first it was only "backstory."

  "This novel that I was trying to write, it wasn't swinging. Finally, after a couple three years, I just started writing on a piece of paper with a pencil, and I just wrote whatever came to mind. And that's when I met Annie and Niecy."
  —Tayari Jones (08:55)

• She only realized after 100+ pages that the historical narrative was, in fact, the main story.

• Jones likens the creative process to channeling something “older than herself,” requiring faith and trust in the unknown.

  "I felt like I was being communicated with by something, someone unseen. And I had to not fear it and just kind of lean into it and have faith."
  —Tayari Jones (09:56)

6. Research and Personal Connections

• [07:44-08:40] Jones interviewed her nonagenarian college advisor from Spelman, who provided first-hand insights on the era and the experience of Black women striving for education.

  "She graduated from Spelman in the early 1950s, and she was telling me about all the jobs that the young women had... she herself came to Spelman with all the money her family had put together for her, you know, and it was contained in a stocking."
  —Tayari Jones (08:22)

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Memorable Quotes

• On mothering and found family:

  "Other people found family can absolutely meet your emotional needs, but you have to be willing to let them."
  —Tayari Jones (03:08)

• On stereotypes of Black motherhood:

  "Black women are either stereotyped as terrible mothers or just bottomlessly maternal."
  —Tayari Jones (04:20)

• On women's fear of violence:

  "It's just in the water of womanhood, I think."
  —Tayari Jones (05:40)

• On HBCUs and the Black middle class:

  "They did not merely serve the middle class. They created that middle class."
  —Tayari Jones (07:28)

• On letting the story emerge:

  "After 100 and some pages, I had to accept that what I thought was backstory was the story."
  —Tayari Jones (09:36)

• On creative vulnerability:

  "I had to tap into something that kind of was older than myself."
  —Tayari Jones (09:56)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:02 — Introduction by Andrew Lembong
• 01:02 — Jones reads an excerpt from "Kin" illustrating the girls' early bond
• 02:24 — Discussion on motherlessness and the "mother-shaped hole"
• 04:32 — Exploring domestic violence and generational warnings for Black women
• 05:56 — The setting of Honeysuckle and the persistence of segregation
• 06:55 — Portrayal of Spelman College and its traditions
• 07:44 — Research process: interviews with her 97-year-old college advisor
• 08:55 — Jones reflects on abandoning her previous book and the organic birth of "Kin"
• 09:56 — On the experience of creative faith and letting the story take over

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Notable Moments

• The emotional impact of Jones’ reading of Vernice’s first memory and the girls' connection [01:02–01:52]
• Discussion on the realities and stereotypes of Black motherhood [03:22–04:32]
• Jones gives a moving account of revising her entire career direction mid-project—and the trust required to do so [08:55–09:56]
• Lighthearted exchange about her advisor’s wit ("Why do you look so mature?" [08:09])

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Conclusion

In this insightful, honest conversation, Tayari Jones reveals the personal and creative depths behind "Kin"—from the emotional roots of found family amid loss, to the author’s willingness to abandon a failed project and trust her instincts in crafting a historical novel that speaks both to personal memory and the Black Southern experience. With her signature warmth and candor, Jones gives listeners a window into the complex legacies of family, violence, and resilience, as well as the challenges and joys of creating art from both pain and hope.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Lembong. I think I like hearing about artists failures more than their successes. Not in a weird schadenfreude way. I just think that the rest of us can learn more about the process of art making that way. Tayari Jones is on the pod today. Her latest novel, kin, is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year. It's about two women, friends since they were babies, who end up on vastly different paths in life. And in this interview, she talks to NPR's Aisha Rascoe about this book, but also about the novel she spent three years on before giving up on it. That's ahead.

[B]

This message comes from Carvana Finance. And buy your next vehicle with Carvana. Shop a huge selection, customize terms to fit your budget and buy completely online. No hassle, no pressure. Get the car. You love the easy way with Carvana. In the new novel Ken, two girls, Annie and Vernice, are cradle friends. The book opens with Vernice as a toddler speaking her first word.

[C]

Mother, I said softly at first as I raised my voice to a bellow. Every heart in the house contracted, vulnerable as a scalded tomato gripped into a tiny, greedy fist. Annie's granny said she heard wonder in my voice like I gazed into the eyes of an angel. Aunt Irene said she understood it as a command, her dead sister telling her that I was hers for life. Only Mrs. Olamay, the midwife, attended to me. Scooping me into her stout arms, she cooed, I hear you, baby. Annie, who had been in the kitchen yapping away, toddled up to Ms. Olamay, arms raised to be held as well. We were both crowded onto her lap. I kept saying my new word over and over, but Annie was quiet for once, sucking my thumb as though it were her own.

[B]

The two girls have both lost their mothers. Annie's ran off, and Vernice's mom was killed by her dad in an act of domestic violence. The story follows the girls as their paths in life diverge and they discover the complexities of their sisterhood, all the while navigating being black women in the Jim Crow.

[C]

South Korea.

[B]

Ken is the latest novel from Tayari Jones, the acclaimed author of An American Marriage. She joins us now. Welcome.

[C]

Thanks for having me.

[B]

You know, when you look at both of these girls, they have this mother shaped hole in their lives, right? But each of them kind of deal with it in a different way.

[C]

Well, Vernice knows she will never see her mother again. You know not on this side, as they say. She. She can actually seek a replacement mother. She can seek someone to fill that space in her life where Annie. Imagine that she's sitting at a dinner table and she's saving a seat, and no one else can sit in that seat. She would feel like she's cheating on her mother to allow someone else to take that space. Other people found family can absolutely meet your emotional needs, but you have to be willing to let them.

[B]

But they do have maternal figures in their lives. Niecy is raised by her aunt Irene. Annie is raised by her granny. But both of the women in their lives wouldn't really mother them.

[C]

One of the things I was thinking about as I was writing this is how many, like before the 1960s, late 1960s, when, you know, when the birth control pill was widely available, before Roe v. Wade, there were so many unplanned children in the community. And someone else is called up to do this job and to be called to mother when that was not, you know, what you had planned to do, it's a lot to ask for that person to have that full emotional attachment, particularly like Niecy's aunt who raised her, was what the young people these days would call child free. Yeah, she enjoyed not having children, living a life in the promised land of Dayton, Ohio, and she comes home for her mother's funeral and ends up raising a child. And then there's a sense that the child doesn't feel properly mothered. And I felt like, well, I could see how that could happen. Black women are either stereotyped as terrible mothers or just bottomlessly maternal. And so I was really interrogating, what does it mean to mother by choice, and what does it mean to mother not by choice?

[B]

One of the lines in the book that will stick with me is when Aunt Irene tells Niecy, don't ever let no man kill you. And then that resonates in Niecy's journey later on because someone says to her about a man, he won't kill you. I mean, it's a very simple phrase, but it kind of rung down in my spirit when I read it.

[C]

I mean, Niecy's life, like they said, she was touched by blood and not the blood of the lamb. She was there, you know, when her father shot her mother. And this is the act that starts her life's journey. And her aunt, you know, she doesn't want to see her go down the same road that her mother went. And when her future mother in law says, my dear, my son will not kill you. And she feels a relief because that is a shadow, a quiet shadow that's been over her life. And I think it's a shadow that hovers over women's lives in general. Like, every time you're out at night and someone says, let me walk you home, what they're saying is, let me walk you home so that no one tries to harm you. Like, it's just in the water of womanhood, I think.

[B]

And these two grow up in this small fictional town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana. Can you describe Honeysuckle for us and how growing up in that particular town shapes that? The girls.

[C]

I based Honeysuckle on the town that my grandmama lived in when I was a little girl. You know, I grew up in Atlanta, but in the summertime, we would go down to visit my grandmother in a small Louisiana town called Oakdale. And I remember things like, my grandmother always took her mail at a post office box because black people were not allowed to have their mail delivered to their door. So when I was growing up, even in the 70s, you. You know, we would have to walk about a mile to the post office to get the mail. And I just remember how the long legacy of segregation intersected with people's everyday lives.

[B]

So Niecy leaves Honeysuckle, and she goes to Spelman, your alma mater. And so many of the traditions that are talked about in the book still are going on. The wearing of white, the going to the chapel, which I would imagine were a part of your own experiences at Spelman.

[C]

Well, I had to think about Spelman and our traditions with kind of new eyes. People tend to look at the graduates of these HBCUs and see them as professionals and leaders of industry miniaturized as a college student. But so many people were transformed by their experiences. Like, in the 40s and 50s, young women came to Spelman College and worked as maids in white women's kitchens to make the money to pay their tuition. And I think this part of our history has been lost. Atlanta is known as the Black Mecca because of its thriving black middle class. But these six historically black colleges and universities, they did not merely serve the middle class. They created that middle class.

[B]

This is your first historical novel, and I read that you did a lot of research, including interviewing your own college advisor at Spelman, who's now almost 100. Tell us about her.

[C]

She is a wonderful woman. She's 97. She's got great humor. She told me today that I look too old. She says, why do you look so mature? I said, Ma', am, I am mature.

[B]

It's.

[C]

I said, and you 100. How are you going to tell somebody they look mature? And she said, I might be almost 100, but I don't look like it. You know, she graduated from Spelman in the early 1950s, and she was telling me about all the jobs that the young women had and even how she herself came to Spelman with all the money her family had put together for her. You know, and it was contained in a stocking and she's 97 year old black woman with a PhD in Shakespeare and telling me I look old.

[B]

I'm sure she doesn't look it. I'm sure she doesn't look any bitter. 97. This is your first book since An American marriage in 2018. How did it feel making this book?

[C]

You know, Ken is not the book that I was contracted to write. I had this, what I thought was this great idea to write about gentrification in the modern south, and it just wasn't coming together. You know how like sometimes, you know, someone who plays in a band, like a jazz band, and they will say, oh, the band was swinging tonight, or they'll be disappointed and say, the band wasn't swinging. This novel that I was trying to write, it wasn't swinging. Finally, after a couple three years, I just started writing on a piece of paper with a pencil, and I just wrote whatever came to mind. And that's when I met Annie and Niecy.

[B]

And.

[C]

And so here I am writing this novel because I said, oh, my goodness, these people seem to be living in the 1950s, so certainly they must be the parents of my real characters, because I do believe myself to contain multitudes, but I do not believe myself to contain a historical novel. After 100 and some pages, I had to accept that what I thought was backstory was the story.

[B]

And then it all came together like this.

[C]

It all came together. I just felt like this project was blessed because for me to jump into this not knowing what I was writing about or why, I had to tap into something that kind of was older than myself. I felt like I was being communicated with by something, someone unseen. And I had to not fear it and just kind of lean into it and have faith.

[B]

That's beautiful. And you were swinging. Apparently, I could tell as I was reading it you were swinging.

[C]

Well, I will take that. Thank you so much.

[B]

That's Tayari Jones. Her novel Ken is out now. Thank you for being with us.

[C]

Thank you for having me. This.