Kind of Kin
Rilla Askew
Your Grandpa is a felon and a Christian. He says he's a felon because he's a Christian.
So says Aunt Sweet to her nephew Dustin, when her father, who has been raising Dustin, is arrested for hiding migrant workers. The law that makes harbouring 'illegals' an offence is the brainchild of the ferociously ambitious Oklahoma politician Monica Moorehouse.
Aunt Sweet takes Dustin in, but Dustin is bullied by her son, and so goes on the run, aided by an illegal the sheriffs didn't find. Meanwhile, Sweet is asked by Dustin's married sister to hide her husband, a Mexican without papers. As Grandpa Brown holds fast to his beliefs and Dustin remains missing, Aunt Sweet fights to hold the family together, and to do what seems right.
In a gripping and compelling narrative, Kind of Kin lays bare the consequences of a law that exiles workers, turns friends into informers, and tears apart families. It also shows how some - and ultimately a whole town - will unite to protect their own.
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About Rilla Askew
Reviews for Kind of Kin
New York Times Book Review
An impressive, witty and thought-provoking family saga
Red
Rawboned, heartfelt and often funny... the author's delight in language abounds on every page... A tale of clashing values, emotions and powerful forces at stake ... Extraordinary
Huffington Post
Rilla Askew's raucous, ebullient novel... gets to the very heart of what it means to be part of the family of man... Here, immigration has a human, heartbreaking face... Askew's characters are both larger than life and deeply, complicatedly human... powerful and moving
San Francisco Chronicle
Kind of Kin is a kind of miracle. The character Sweet is an American original, doing her best to hold the family she loves together while trying not to fall apart. A winner.
Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of 'The Shoemaker's Wife' Rich, rewarding, and humane
Publishers Weekly