In this issue, we bring you Tayari Jones’ latest novel Kin, which follows Vernice and Annie, childhood friends from Louisiana, along diverging paths as they experience the world as young Black adults during the Civil Rights era. Nikesha Elise Williams’ The Seven Daughters of Dupree, also partly revolving around Black women in the South, covers multiple generations of a family whose female descendants bear only daughters, from the Civil War to the Great Migration and beyond.
Different books illuminate other social and political histories. Tina Harnesk’s The Secret of Snow, acclaimed in Sweden, explores the lives of two couples while addressing the displacement of the Sámi in Scandinavia. Cristina Rivera Garza’s Autobiography of Cotton, a fascinating cross-genre work, fictionalizes the author’s family history on both sides of the United States-Mexico border, including her grandparents’ participation in a cotton workers’ strike that the writer José Revueltas helped organize. Liadan Ní Chuinn’s debut short story collection Every One Still Here reflects on the aftermath of the Troubles in contemporary Northern Ireland.
Two of the books we review here have titles that evoke eating, in very different ways! Partially Devoured by Daniel Kraus ponders the significance of the seminal zombie movie Night of the Living Dead, while Rebecca Kauffman’s heartfelt and humorous The Reservation focuses on the antics and personal stories of the employees at a restaurant in a university town set to host the famous writer John Grisham. Our accompanying reading list highlights other author cameos in fiction.
Plus, see more reviews and articles, including coverage of new paperbacks, recent First Impressions titles, previews of upcoming releases, the latest book news, and more.
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— The BookBrowse Team
