Kin

Jones (An American Marriage) delivers a triumphant novel of two motherless girls from rural Honeysuckle, La., who follow very different paths into adulthood. Vernice “Niecy” Davis is orphaned as an infant and raised reluctantly by her free-spirited aunt Irene, who dispenses such advice as “If you ever get a chance in life, grab you a preacher, but just temporarily. Don’t fool around and end up being somebody’s first lady.” Before Niecy learns to talk, she befriends Annie Johnson, who’s being raised by her grandmother after her “trifling” mother, Hattie Lee, left her at one month old. In Annie and Niecy’s alternating narration, the women reflect on their abandonment—Niecy’s in a permanent sense, as her father killed her mother and himself, while Annie always hopes that someday Hattie Lee will return and grow to love her. After high school, Niecy leaves for Spelman College in Atlanta, where her wealthy roommate, Joette, nicknames her “country mouse” and chastises her for spending so much time thinking about her “other girlfriend,” Annie, who’s been writing to Niecy about her torrid misadventures on the way to Memphis in search of Hattie Lee with her ex-boyfriend’s cousin Bobo. Annie’s and Niecy’s paths continue to diverge, first when Niecy entertains a suitor at Spelman and later when Annie gets unexpectedly pregnant. Still, they remain the most important person to the other even as it feels like they’re on “different sides of a waterfall,” as Annie puts it in a letter. Throughout, Jones tells her protagonists’ stories with grace, humor, and pathos. It’s a tour de force. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.)