Kind of Kin - Softcover

Askew, Rilla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062198807 ISBN 13: 9780062198808

Publisher: Ecco Press, 2014

Synopsis

With the passing of a new state law, it becomes a felony to harbor an undocumented immigrant in Oklahoma. So when Robert John Brown, a churchgoing family man and respected community member, is caught hiding a barnful of migrant workers with no papers, he is arrested and sent to prison. Meanwhile, his ten-year-old grandson Dustin tries to help the sole escapee of the raid reunite with his family, and his granddaughter, Misty, is struggling to raise her daughter alone after her husband, an undocumented immigrant himself, has been deported. Then there's Brown's daughter Sweet, who finds her life unraveling: her father is refusing to speak in court to defend himself, her nephew is missing, her niece is in need of shelter, and the stress of it all is destroying her marriage.

Rilla Askew's brilliant, hilarious, and heartfelt novel follows a handful of complicated lawmakers and lawbreakers as workers are exiled, friends turn informers, and families are torn apart in a statewide exodus of Hispanics. In the end, Kind of Kin reveals how an ad hoc family, and an entire town, will unite to do anything necessary to protect its own.

About this title

Review:

"Wonderful . . . Askew's unflinching portrait of a family whipsawed from within and without is a story for our time. It's proof of Askew's flat-out genius that Kind of Kin is merciless, yet strangely full of mercy."--Ben Fountain, author Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

"I loved it!!! I stayed up until 4 in the morning ... I couldn't stop thinking about it. That is just one of the magical things about Rilla's writing...A brilliant portrait of the world today. I just felt hopeful when I was finished."--Diane Welsh, Barnes & Noble, Cedar Rapids, IA

Passionate, solid, and fair. . . Askew's characters, whose viewpoints are all over the political map, are well-imagined, thoughtful, and treated with a kindness that is often lacking in the ongoing discussion of this 'hot button' topic. It deserves great applause."--Emily Russo, Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY

"The nature of this wonderful novel is, like the characters, raucous, messy, uncertain and foolishly brave. Askew's story is brilliant and a most timely look at who is welcome into our lives and how we express and share compassion even while times are tough and language is a barrier."--Sheryl Cotleur, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA

"Askew writes a very compelling family drama that features a very hot subject these days-immigration, illegal and otherwise. Religion, civil rights, extended families, and the economic struggles of blue collar families all come into play in this multi-layered novel of life in Oklahoma."--Jackie Blem, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO

"Compelling...this novel is rich, rewarding, and humane."--Publishers Weekly

"Vividly authentic . . . Askew has crafted an uncannily real cast of characters . . . A winner for book clubs...Askew's sensitive and humanizing treatment of this hot-button issue is sure to provoke thought and discussion no matter what readers' political leanings may be."--Shelf Awareness

"Askew's novel delivers the unexpected. It has moments both funny and sublime."--Denver Post

"The end result is a novel as ambitious as it is complex: Askew deftly weaves multiple points of view into a narrative that's spacious, messy and, above all, honest."--Kansas City Star

"What might have been a political polemic or a partisan pitch in the hands of a lesser writer, Rilla Askew's fourth novel....personalizes [immigration]...exploring with a deft hand and an unflinching moral vision the gray areas of an argument so often presented in black and white."--New York Times Book Review

Book Description:

For readers who love Marilynne Robinson and Barbara Kingsolver comes a compelling, funny and poignant novel about what happens when a family - and an entire community - are forced to confront the difference between right and wrong.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062198807
• ISBN 13: 9780062198808
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432