Join Black Women Connect for our July Book Club as we come together to discuss Kin by Tayari Jones.
This month, we are reading a powerful, emotionally rich novel about mothers and daughters, friendship, sisterhood, loss, class, love, survival, and the different paths Black women take in search of belonging and selfhood.
We are excited to continue gathering in person, with a hybrid option available for those joining online. We will be meeting in downtown Toronto at King and Peter Street, and we look forward to another evening of honest conversation, reflection, laughter, and community.
About the Book
Kin follows Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana. Best friends and neighbours since childhood, the two girls share a deep bond, but their lives move in very different directions.
Vernice is raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her stability after her mother’s death. She leaves for Spelman College, enters a powerful sisterhood of Black women, and marries into an affluent family.
Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child, is shaped by the ache of that absence. Her longing to find her mother leads her into danger, adversity, love, adventure, and ultimately a fight for her life.
Tayari Jones gives us a story about the ties that form us, the wounds we carry, and the choices Black women make when love, family, class, and survival collide. This is a novel about friendship, kinship, womanhood, and the complicated emotional inheritance passed between mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends.
What to Expect
During our discussion, we will explore:
Motherhood, mother loss, and the longing for connection
The friendship between Vernice and Annie
How class, education, and opportunity shape women’s lives
Sisterhood, especially within Black women’s communities
The emotional impact of abandonment and grief
The complexity of being a Black woman in the American South
What “kin” means beyond blood family
Why You Should Join
The Black Women Connect Book Club is a welcoming community designed for thoughtful dialogue, shared learning, and collective reflection. This month’s novel gives us an opportunity to unpack themes that speak directly to many of our lived realities as Black women, including identity, family, friendship, ambition, grief, belonging, survival, and the search for connection in a world that does not always protect us.
How to Participate
• Read the Book: Kin by Tayari Jones
• RSVP: Register to receive the event details and Zoom link if joining online
• Join the Conversation: Bring your insights, reflections, questions, and honest reactions
Who Should Join?
Anyone who identifies as a Black woman is welcome, whether you have been with us for years or this will be your very first meeting.
If you enjoy emotionally rich fiction by Black women, stories about friendship and family, and books that explore identity, belonging, class, sisterhood, and survival, this discussion is for you.
Come ready to talk, listen, reflect, and reconnect. We look forward to seeing you in the room.
How to Prepare
📖 Read the Book: Kin by Tayari Jones
💭 Reflect: Think about the characters, moments, relationships, and themes that stayed with you
☕ Get Comfortable: Bring your favourite drink and settle in for a rich discussion
What You’ll Receive
✅ Zoom link to join the discussion or in-person address
✅ A discussion guide with thoughtful prompts
✅ Access to our private Facebook group for continued conversation
✅ Connection with a community of Black women who love books and dialogue
About Black Women Connect Book Club
The Black Women Connect Book Club is a monthly gathering that brings Black women together through fiction and nonfiction by writers of African descent. We read, reflect, connect, and build community through the power of storytelling. It’s more than a book club. It’s connection, conversation, and sisterhood.
Bookings
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