Tayari Jones

Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood, but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Atlanta at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and marries into an affluent family. Annie, abandoned by her dissolute mother as a child, and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, and culminate in a battle for her life.

THE SPELLBINDING NEW NOVEL FROM THE WOMEN'S PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE* 'This is Tayari Jones's very best work.' ANN PATCHETT, author of Tom Lake* 'Kin is a masterpiece of a novel.' OPRAH WINFREY* 'A future classic.' ROISIN O'DONNELL, author of Nesting*'An exquisite gift.' TIME MAGAZINEA Most Anticipated Book for 2026 according to the New York Times, New Statesman, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times and USA TodayA yearning for their missing mothers pulls Vernice and Annie apart. It will take a devastating tragedy to bring them back together. Vernice and Annie are 'cradle friends', born days apart in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, both destined never to know their mothers. The girls are inseparable, bound by a friendship far deeper than sisterhood. But this is the American south in the 1950s. Black girls like Vernice and Annie have to fight for every opportunity they can, and neither one can build the future they hope for in Honeysuckle. Gradually, inevitably, the girls drift apart. Vernice pursues her education; Annie is lured by the promise of a heady first love affair and a growing obsession with finding her mother. But her search pulls her even further into a world of danger that soon leaves her oldest friend battling to save her. Tayari Jones returns with an exuberant, richly told story about mothers, daughters, and a lifelong friendship that is as dangerous as it is unbreakable.

A breathtaking tale of family secrets, from the international bestselling author of An American MarriageA Most Anticipated Book for 2020 according to The Sunday Times, the FT and the Guardian'My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.'This is the story of a man's deception, a family's complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle. James Witherspoon has two families, one public, the other a closely guarded secret. But when his daughters meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows the truth. Theirs is a relationship destined to explode. Silver Sparrow is the stunning new novel from the critically acclaimed winner of the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction, one of the most important writers of her generation.

A Most Anticipated Book for 2020 according to The Sunday Times, the FT and the GuardianA breathtaking tale of family secrets, from the international bestselling author of An American Marriage 'My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.'This is the breathtaking story of a man's deception, a family's complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle. James Witherspoon has two families, one public, the other a closely guarded secret. But when his daughters meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows the truth. Theirs is a relationship destined to explode. Silver Sparrow is the stunning new novel from the critically acclaimed winner of the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction, an author deemed one of the most important writers of her generation.

"A szerelem helyet követel az életedben, az ágyadban. Láthatatlanul helyet követel a testedben, áthajlítgatja a véredényeket, ott lüktet mindjárt a szívednél. És ha már nincs ott, semmi sem egész többé." Celeste és Roy fiatal, fekete házaspár az amerikai Délen, Atlantában. Celeste művész, a nagy áttörés küszöbén, Roy egy könyves cégnél ügyvivő - és egy év házasság után még mindig "kéken izzik" a szerelmük. Mintha a legjobb úton lennének afelé, hogy megvalósítsák a maguk Amerikai Álmát - amikor váratlanul becsapódik a "meteor", amely szétzúzza világukat. Royt megvádolják és tizenkét év börtönre ítélik nemi erőszakért - amit nem követett el, és a felesége is biztosan tudja, hogy ártatlan. Celeste, bármennyire önálló, a férje nyújtotta biztos fogódzót elveszítve sodródni kezd, és gyermekkori barátjában, esküvői tanújukban, Andréban talál vigaszt. Royjal levelezés útján tartják a kapcsolatot, ám amikor az elítélt férfi öt év után szabadul, és kész visszatérni Atlantába, hogy feleségével folytassák közös életüket, ki kell derülnie a valamennyi érintett számára fájdalmas igazságnak: számot kell vetniük a múlttal, és tovább kell lépniük valami reményt hordozó jövő felé. Ez a felkavaró szerelmi történet három olyan ember érzéseit és gondolatait tárja fel mély együttérzéssel, akiknek sorsát náluk hatalmasabb erők pecsételik meg.

LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION, 2019 'A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.' - Barack Obama Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of the American Dream. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. Until one day they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Devastated and unmoored, Celestial finds herself struggling to hold on to the love that has been her centre, taking comfort in Andre, their closest friend. When Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, he returns home ready to resume their life together. A masterpiece of storytelling, An American Marriage offers a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three unforgettable characters who are at once bound together and separated by forces beyond their control.

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she struggles to hold on to the love that has been her centre. When his conviction is suddenly overturned, he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward - with hope and pain - into the future.