Books·Canadian

Uncertain Kin

Janice Lynn Mather's novel is a collection of linked stories about the lives of woman and girls in The Bahamas.

Janice Lynn Mather

Set against the vivid backdrop of the Bahamas, these 18 beautiful and haunting stories introduce us to women and girls searching for identity and belonging during moments of profound upheaval. These women are bold and big-hearted, complex and intimately familiar. They grapple with the bonds of kinship and the responsibilities of parenthood, with grief, longing, betrayal, coming of age and what it means to be a woman.

In Mango Summer, little girls begin disappearing from their beds during one lush, steaming August. In Morning Swim, a jogger, newly diagnosed with cancer, makes a sinister discovery on the beach. Nassau wakes up to blood-red water pouring from its taps after a pastor decries witchcraft in Drinking Water. In Boyo, a woman new to Vancouver struggles to plant roots in a city that doesn't seem to want her or her young son.  

These stories are at once deeply grounded and tinged with folkoric and surreal elements — and all speak to the beauty and brutality of being alive. (From Doubleday Canada)

Uncertain Kin is available in April 2022.

Janice Lynn Mather is a novelist and short story writer born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, who now lives in Vancouver. Her other books include Learning to Breathe, which was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text.

Interviews with Janice Lynn Mather

Janice Lynn Mather talks to Shelagh Rogers about her collection of short stories, Uncertain Kin.
Janice Lynn Mather's YA novel Facing the Sun is a coming-of-age story set in the Bahamas. It's about four young girls — Eve, Faith, KeeKee and Nia — and the choices they are forced to make one fateful summer. When a hotel developer makes a move to buy the community's beloved beach, all four teens are faced with decisions that might change them forever.

Other books by Janice Lynn Mather

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send you book recommendations, CanLit news, the best author interviews on CBC and more.

...

The next issue of CBC Books newsletter will soon be in your inbox.

Discover all CBC newsletters in the Subscription Centre.opens new window

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service apply.