The storytelling was wonderful as it ebbed and flowed beautifully. I was immediately drawn into this world. Set in rural Alabama, Nub, the town drunk, has been drinking since he was thirteen after his father committed suicide and his mother was sent to an insane asylum. At 60, he decides to take in Minnie, a pregnant high schooler, and together they begin to change each other’s lives. All the characters were well developed, as my heart sang and broke for all of them. The author narrated his own book and did a fantastic job. I went through all my emotions while listening to this. This was a story full of hope, second chances and found family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this ARC.

Kinfolk is delightful. Sean Dietrich is a master storyteller. I loved this audiobook and hearing him read his story.
Once you start listening, this one is hard to put down.

5 stars

"Kinfolk" by Sean Dietrich is a Satisfying Blend of Southern, Family, and Literary Fiction

It's 1972 in a small rural town in Southern Alabama, where sixty-two-year-old Jeremiah "Nub" Taylor is known as the town drunk. He hangs out with his cousin Benny doing odd jobs to pay for all the booze they drink closing down the local bar every night.

People around town say Nub's no good. His ex-wife and adult daughter think so, too. Nub thinks differently though and has a fondness for his quiet and simple life. He's inclined to maintain his status quo.

That is, until an unfortunate accident brings someone unexpected into his life. Minnie Bass is a fourteen year old pregnant teenager who has recently lost her mother from suicide, and Nub realizes she's a lot worse off than he is. He acknowledges his life is one big mess, but Minnie needs help and, as crazy as it may seem, he's up for the challenge...

"Kinfolk" is a surprisingly touching story that centers around kindness, second chances, love, and family. It's about the family you're born into and the family you make piece-by-piece. The writing style is unique and the storytelling is true to the South. The characterizations feel authentic to the US Southeast during the time period, richly drawn, and not stereotypical or caricatures in any way.

I did freak out a bit when I discovered the audiobook is narrated by the author knowing this is a situation that doesn't always end well. What I didn't know was that I was safely in the hands of "Sean of the South", an author who's also a paid speaker with an amazing voice and voicing skills, and a well-known storyteller of the American South. Yep, he's all that.

"Kinfolk" is a surprisingly emotional story and I will definitely check out this author's backlist for other goodies. I'm excited I've discovered another 'new-to-me' author and I recommend this book to readers who enjoy Southern, Family, and Literary Fiction as much as I do.

4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and Sean Dietrich for an ALC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

This book is stunning. Southern fiction at its finest. Found family, second chances, redemption, and the messiest characters come together to make a beautiful story.

Nub is his small town’s drunk. He’s failed at marriage, failed at parenthood, and is failing at caring for himself. An unlikely friendship leads him to turn his life around. I fell in love with him and every character around him. The story is both tragic and hopeful and entirely heartfelt. It will break your heart but will put it back together in the most tender way. You will laugh and cry and cheer for Nub.

I loved this audiobook! I wasn't sure at first that I would but it sort of snuck up on me, hooking me in with its wonderful characters. The characters are so realistic you are sure you know them, They become friends and you have to know what happens to them. Alcoholic and chain smoking Nub has always been a screwup, and this cost him his marriage and relationship with his daughter. When he befriends fifteen year old Minnie he begins to change into a totally different man. Minnie is a big girl who gets picked on at school and the teachers aren't much help. You have to feel sorry for this poor girl who has had such a hard life. She too changes drastically over the course of the book. This is a book about love and change and family. This is the first book I have read by this author but it won't be my last. He has a way with words that makes you really feel the story. His colorful descriptions and subtle humor make you see and feel life in small town Alabama in the 1970s. He also has some surprises in store for the reader. The author narrated the book himself and does an excellent job. In listening to the afterword it is apparent that he has drawn from events in his own life to create this book. I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley.

Kinfolk a story of second chances and redemption. It is unexpected and touching, moving and heartbreaking, ultimately uplifting, and I loved it.

Narration by the author was an excellent move in my opinion!

And unexpected meeting sees Nub Taylor & Minnie Bass develop an unlikely and touching friendship…

Nub Taylor has a history of making mistakes, of not getting anything right, and disappointing the people he supposedly cares about the most (namely his ex-wife and daughter).

Minnie Bass is down on her luck. Even that phrase doesn’t adequately cover her issues. She’s a 15 year old, 6’5”, orphaned and pregnant girl, being shunted into the foster care system.

Nub is compelled to do better and make a difference in her life.

Everyone is watching and waiting for Nub to mess up, just like he always has.

Yet this time he’s determined that Minnie not be let down, especially by him…

I was provided a free advanced copy of this audiobook from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
While I had heard and read some posts by @seanofthesouth I didn't realize he had written novels.
This is a comfy story steeped in as much sweetness as a good Southern glass of sweet tea (aka syrup)! 😂 It's a story about redemption, found family, believing in others and oneself!
It reminded me of some of Charles Martin's stories. Probably the struggle but redemption storylines and southernness.
The audiobook was expertly narrated (and sung) by the author. Although I will give a slight "warning" that his accent may prove difficult for those who like to listen at high speeds. But it's worth slowing down and lingering over! 😊
This one is set to be published this Tuesday, 14 Nov, so check it out!
#Kinfolk #NetGalley

I had the opportunity to listen to an ARC audio version of this book.
Nub is the town drunk who hangs out with his cousin, Benny and is estranged from his daughter, Emily. While hospitalized following a drunk driving incident, Nub meets 15 year old Minnie, seemingly orphaned by her mother’s suicide and unknowingly pregnant. In an effort for a second chance and because Nub is drawn to Minnie due to their commonalities of being picked on and losing a parent to suicide, Nub joins AA and sobers up so he can foster Minnie. Meanwhile, Emily is dealing with her own health challenges and Sug, the father that Minnie is unaware of, is released from prison but pursued by mob-like criminals. The story unfolds with life changing events for all the characters.
I really enjoyed both the story and the narration, read by the author, for the most part. I love listening to an author read their own book because they get the meaning and nuances just right. Sean of the South does an excellent job with this reading as far as voice inflections, accents and subtle nuances. I really liked the funny church jokes and Nub’s metaphors and references as I also grew up in Southern Baptist church. I see that other reviewers enjoyed the author’s singing but I absolutely did not. He has a decent voice but I just found the singing really distracting.
The story itself was very heartwarming. The characters were well developed and so likable! Of course, much of it was far-fetched but it is fiction so readers can just “enjoy the ride” and it’s nice to read about so much good in today’s messed up world. I am not a fan of country music (I find it annoying) so my only criticism is that there were too many references to old timey country music artists that seemed unnecessary to the story.
#NetGalley #HarperMuse

I wish I could go back and re-read this one from the beginning without knowing how it was going to end…
For the first time! ... It was that good!

Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich.

Definitely will make you “Feel” all the feels. Will make you root for the underdog, curse the popular people, and give the average folks a second look…or chance…or two.

We start out with looking back on life…suicides…screw ups…things that could’ve been done differently…

Then we are introduced to Nub…a drunk who seems to have nine lives… He’s divorced, and has no relationship with his daughter…whatsoever.

And then there’s Minnie… a young girl who has EVERYTHING going AGAINST her…and just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse…it always does.

We follow these two on the journeys of their messed up, non-enviable lives… and how at some point they intertwine…

And I am reminded again of the theory of “An Invisible Thread” and how just one person could make such a huge impact in the world…especially for one person!

This one brought me to tears multiple times…but also made me laugh out loud…and cheer unabashedly for the underdogs!! Also makes you think about life, and how such simple things can sometimes make such a HUGE difference in one persons life.

Absolutely loved this one from beginning to end!

If you haven’t read this one, again…RUN, don’t walk to get this one!
If you haven’t heard of it, ADD it to your TBR list now.
You will not be disappointed!

The mob. Jail. Suicide (multiple). Bullying in school. Getting even… and teenage problems/drama are just a few of the threads in this one…so if any are a trigger, beware…but aside from that…DON’T MISS THIS ONE!

I wish I could give it more than 5 stars! Probably one of the best I’ve read this year!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperMuse for an ARC of the audiobook which releases on 11/14.

#Kinfolk by #SeanDietrich. Narrated by the author! (Wonderful)

5++ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me!

Follow me for all my up and coming reviews at #BookReviews_with_emsr on Instagram.

Thanks for reading! 📖📚

Kinfolk is Sean Dietrich‘s newest heartwarming and heartbreaking Southern fiction novel set in a fictional Alabama city and county. The author is primarily known for his daily uplifting column written under Sean of the South. Kinfolk is told in third person POV featuring four main characters using authentic Southern dialect. The chapters are short, similar to James Patterson’s story-telling.

Kinfolk begins in 1921 with a desperate tobacco farmer deciding to take his own life, leaving behind his beloved wife and 11-year-old. Then the story picks up in 1970s south Alabama with the 11-year-old boy grown into a 62-year-old alcoholic ne’er-do-well, Jeremiah Lewis “Nub” Taylor. Nub’s wife, Loretta, divorced him when their daughter, Emily, was small due to his drinking, and Emily has had very little contact with him. Part of Nub’s problems stem from his mother sending him to an insane asylum after his father’s suicide because she couldn’t deal with her own grief, and partly because he had difficulty adjusting to the freedom of civilian life after a stint in the Navy. Nub’s cousin, Benny, is his best friend and co-worker at the Ash County Maintenance Department. One of Nub and Benny’s escapades was to not complete the “R” on the city’s water tower so that it reads “PAPK” instead of “PARK”.

Nub lives alone in the house that he grew up in, surrounded by land that formerly grew tobacco. There are abandoned outbuildings and overgrown woods. Nub and Benny hang out in the evenings at the local American Legion, where they drink and talk to a sweet bartender, Lee Ann. Then one night Nub is pursued by a local Sheriff’s deputy during a snowstorm and crashes his truck into a tree, and winds up in the local hospital. Due to a power outage, the patients are crammed into one area of the hospital that is powered by generators. There he wakes up to hear his 15-year-old female roommate singing. Nub is unfriendly to her but her crying moves him so he asks her to sing some more.

15-year-old Minnie Bass is working at the Park Waffle House as a cook since her mother died of a drug overdose. Minnie believes that her father is dead, but actually Clarence “Sugar” Bass is in prison for manslaughter and is at the end of his 15-year sentence. Minnie is 6’ 5” so she was bullied by her classmates until she dropped out. A mean boy, Philip Beaner, tricked her into having sex with him and now she’s pregnant.
Nub has wrecked 17 vehicles over his lifetime so he’s now driving Benny’s dilapidated pick-up truck. Benny is unable to drive due to stroke. When Nub sees his former roommate, Minnie, walking down the road with her toes visible through her tennis shoes, he goes to K-Mart and buys the largest pair of Converse sneakers they have. Then he gives her his coat. Over time he spends more time with her and makes arrangements to become her foster parent.

Nub’s daughter, 44-year-old Emily Taylor Ives, is regretting past choices she made in her life. She hates that she gave up her beloved career and freedom to be the girlfriend of Charlie Ives. She hates that she continues his family tradition of hosting parties for the community all the time; she is really an introvert. She feels bad for letting her mom, Loretta, poison her against her dad. As her son, Charlie Jr., grows older, she regrets that they aren’t closer. Lastly she regrets giving up smoking cigarettes because Charlie Sr. thought it looked cheap; his last mistress was a smoker.

While Nub takes an interest in making sweet Minnie’s life better, Emily tries to reconcile with him. Then Emily has a health scare. Meanwhile Sugar Bass is released from prison and tries to keep an eye on his daughter, but really draws the mobsters after him straight to her.

Kinfolk is a great story filled with unforgettable characters. The reader sees that seemingly bad people have backstories and may be redeemable, and “good” people can be cruel. While Minnie’s circumstances are heartbreaking, there are many good things that happen to her. Minnie has an amazing singing voice and Nub tries to get her talent recognized. Benny is the hapless and witless sidekick to Nub’s take-charge character, and their dynamic adds a lot of humor to the story.

Anyone who is a fan of traditional country music or is a native Southerner will absolutely enjoy Kinfolk. There is no sex or profanity in the story so it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. There is a lot of cigarette smoking in the story and talk about drinking and alcoholism, but this story takes place in the 1970s when people were less health conscious.

I listened to the audiobook that was narrated by the author. He did an outstanding job giving different voices to each of the characters. The accents and language/phrasing used are all authentic to Alabama. Additionally the story contains many musical references and the author sang throughout the story. My absolute favorite parts of the book were the true history lessons sprinkled throughout the story.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harper Muse for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Read this book as soon as you can! Don't miss out on this great new book from Sean Dietrich.

Do you like a book that moves you to tears? One full of great characters?

"It's early 70's in Park, Alabama. There's Nub Taylor (he's 5'2") He's a drunk (or an alcoholic if you're not from the South) His ex-wive dismisses him and his grown daughter can't stand him. He meets Minnie Bass. She's 6'5" and 15-years-old and working as a cook at Waffle House. She has an Opry kevel singing voice. She's pregnant and headed to foster care after her mother commits suicide. Nub wants to do something right and sets out to help Minnie. There's Sugar Bass. He's on parole but the criminals he used to work for want something back. They don't care who they have to hurt to get it."

I love characters that fight against all that life throws at them and prevail. Especially the ones that start with nothing or less than nothing. But using the gifts and talents they have, they climb out of bad situations and poverty and make a life.

Several times, Dietrich brought me to tears. People just stared at me in the grocery store while I listened to the audio and sobbed. I felt terrible for these fictional characters. But like me, you probably know people like this.
Dietrich makes you fall in love with these characters and makes them feel real.

Dietrich narrates this himself. I'm normally not a fan of authors doing their own narration. It's a bit flat at the beginning, but then Dietrich let's loose and adds so much to the story with his voice.

I wish he hadn't included the 1972 Iron Bowl - the Punt, Bama, Punt game. 50 years later Auburn fans still talk about that game.

There is a Brad. He's an usher at First Baptist Church. Nub rear-ended his car at a red light.

This is now my book of the year. Don't miss it.

This is the second novel I've read of Sean Dietrich, and I am a huge fan. Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the audiobook read wonderfully by the author himself. If you want to read (or listen) to a story about people who are not all good and not all bad; who mess up and try again; who forgive and are forgiven, this is it. And it's not all mushy and gospelly. It's funny and exciting. The cliff-hanger chapter breaks are executed with a professional touch. The writing is poetic without hurting your brain. Five stars!

I was up for some touching story, therefore i picked this book.

the plot itself is decent and has potential, however, there is something missing, the story didn’t quite touch me, didnt quite catch me.

I really enjoyed the performance of the narrator, especially his singing and the dialogs. One downside was that he seemed to be whispering the whole time.

i guess it is just his voice. it was tough to understand him, i had to turn up the volume.

I found the structure of the book is rather a mess and confusing, it changed POV/Jumping to different characters all of the sudden with in the chapter.

It would be better if the MCs has its own chapter. Its especially confusing when it comes to audiobook.

Thanks for the ARC. All opinions are my own

At 63% … audio is narrated by the author. He does an amazing … and I’m loving the book as well.

Finished … OMG … I love this book so much! Longer review to follow. I would encourage anyone with extra audible credits to order this one. Listening via audio is the only way! (Narrated by the author who has an amazing singing voice.)*

* This is the longer review ...
I absolutely loved loved Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich.

Nub ... the town drunk and Minnie a 15 year old who drops out of school and is working as a chef at the local Waffle House end up crossing paths. Both down on their luck; both with musical talent; both lost a parent to suicide (as did the author) at a young age.

Sean Dietrich (the author) does an amazing job narrating (and singing) this audio. The Audie Awards are in March, I sure hope he is in the running. In my opinion, this audiobook is that good.

Nub's sidekick is his cousin. OMG ... the number of times I burst out laughing with this book!

Kinfolk was my second book by Sean Dietrich; I remember reading my first Sean Dietrich novel in line to get Covid tested. Anyway ... I much preferred Kinfolk. Possibly the 1 hour plus wait for a covid test had something to do with my mindset at the time.

Many (MANY!) thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to author Sean Dietrich and Harper Muse for approving my request to review the advance listen audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is Nov 14, 2023. The last day to be eligible for the 2023 GoodReads Readers Choice voting. I sure hope this book is in the running, because it definitely would have my vote. I've been raving about this book on Facebook. Give this book several chapters, then you'll be hooked. (I wanted to read this book so desperately, I requested both the audio and electronic version, I opted to listen. The way to go on this one!) 5 stars ... but more if I could.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book! Read (and sung in small parts) by the author, Sean Dietrich, whose great skill and talent delivers a wonderful story of the "redemption" of nearly lost causes. With quirky tales of mistakes made and good intentions, it is delivered with a great amount of humor that can only come from the South. Entertaining with endearing, believable characters, I highly recommend this audio book if you want to be inspired, feel good, laugh out loud and sink your teeth into a Great Yarn. Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Muse for this ARC Audio Book. And a special thanks to the author, Sean - I hope I get to see you perform in person some day!

Thanks to NetGalley i just finished the audiobook. What a beautiful story. I loved that it was read by the author. It took me a little bit to get into the story but i’m so glad i stuck it out. I fell in love with Nub, and Minnie and the other characters. Listening to their story unfold was just wonderful.

I want Clint Eastwood to adapt this book to an film!

Honestly really loved the story and knew from the beginning that the old grumpy man would grow on my heart and possibly on every reader’s. There’s so much paying tribute to kinfolks (;) and some Southern cultures. I really like the way it’s written and how the plot moves on. It didn’t surprise me much (except the ending) but I still had a great time listening to the audiobook. So specific and correctly for my taste :)

This book sets a great tone from the beginning. The characters are setup in a way that is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy; tragic, gripping and overcome with tragedy (self imposed or otherwise). The author does a great job of depicting small town southern life and it really helps to paint the scene, which helps to really transport you.

The story itself is fairly straightforward and I think it’s well done, but to me the magic of this book lies in the characters and the setting. The love comes across with every word.

I came across this book at an excellent time, living in a small southern town. It really stops and makes you consider the lives of each passersby and barfly. What got them to that point? What’s their story? This book was a home-run for me. It really helped to drive me to a contemplative state, which I wasn’t expecting after first reading the description of this book, but was pleasantly surprised.

The audio version was very well done, I thought the performance was spot on and really helped to set the tone of the story.

This one is a hidden gem. Thank you for the ARC.

Kinfolk is the fifth novel written and narrated by American author Sean Dietrich. The first time that Jeremiah (Nub) Taylor encounters Minnie Bass, it’s just after Thanksgiving 1972 and, from the hospital bed opposite his, she’s disturbing his sleep as she comforts herself with a song her mama used to sing to her. Nub is there recovering from his drunken crash into the town’s water tower.

Not long after, he learns that Minnie, 6’5” but only fifteen, is a middle school dropout who works as a cook at the Waffle House. How, then, does a sixty-two-year-old divorced alcoholic whom many in the town of Park, in the tiny county of Ash, Alabama, see as white trash, decide to apply to foster this unfortunate teen?

Before she sank into alcoholism and took her own life on that fateful Thanksgiving, Celia Bass always told Minnie that the father she never knew died a hero in the Korean war when, in fact, Clarence (Sugar) Bass is just then being released after serving a fifteen-year sentence for manslaughter at the Draper Correctional Facility some miles to the south.

An accidental shooting during a robbery gone wrong isn’t going to help “the Organization” forget that Sugar Bass has $813,000 of their money, so he has a tail the moment he hits town. And the Organization’s wrath might be directed at family members if Sugar remains reticent about the location of the money.

High school biology teacher, widow and mother of teenaged Charlie Jr, Emily Ives has just been given an adverse diagnosis by her inept GP, and is trying to come to terms with her own mortality before she shares the news. But she is distracted, and a little chagrined, by the news that the father who abandoned her as a girl for his love affair with alcohol is planning to foster a fifteen-year-old girl.

It’s true that he is a good man: “He was whip-smart, for starters. And he was heart-stoppingly sincere. His greatest quality, however, was that he had the audacity to be himself, for better or worse”, but what qualifies her alcoholic parent to do this?

Nub understands he will have to be sober “He knew it meant that he would have to face the jaggedness of life without alcohol to round its edges” and he realises, after some weeks that way “It had been a long time since he’d felt the hotness of his own anger without alcohol to dull its spiked edges.”

Dietrich really does have a talent for creating a wonderful cast of characters who easily find their way into readers’ hearts. They are a flawed bunch but he gives them wise words and insightful observations: when Nub eventually shares with Minnie the one thing they have in common, a parent ending their own life, she tells him “When someone shoots themself, they kill a lot more than just them.”

Dietrich has a marvellous turn of phrase: “Benny crept down the hall toward the cabinet. He opened the door so slowly that Nub celebrated four birthdays.” Childbirth, concerts, a housefire, an exploding mobile home, a hospital shooter and at least three near-death moments all feature and, even though the plot is at times heart-breaking, there’s plenty of humour, especially in the dialogue: “Benny,” said Nub. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re kind of embarrassing me.”
“Thanks. That means a lot coming from a professional.”

A feel-good ending is always welcome: “Minnie had come to believe that life was not about finding miracles, or happiness, or success, or purpose, or about avoiding disappointment. It was about finding people. People are what make life worth it. People are the buried treasure. People who understand you. People who will bleed with you. People who make your life richer. Your people. Your kinfolk.”
This unbiased review is from an audio copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Muse.

Sean Dietrich (Sean of the South), a columnist, novelist, musician, and stand-up storyteller known for his commentary on life in the American South, returns with his latest novel, KINFOLK — a heartwarming lyrical song-turned-story about family (not always blood-related), second chances, country music, humor, and the power of love and forgiveness.

"Sometimes it's the most unlikely meetings that give us life's greatest gifts."

Set in a small rural town in Alabama in the 1970s, we meet protagonist Jeremiah Lewis Taylor (Nub).

As the book begins, it is dark. A father's suicide (much like the actual story of the author and his childhood). Triumph over tragedy.

Nub is an alcoholic, the town drunk. His ex-wife has disowned him and his grown daughter. The entire town is against him.

His life changes when he meets Minne, a tall fifteen-year-old teen, down on her luck and works at the Waffle House diner.

She is pregnant by a high school guy who does not care. She just lost her mother. Nub cares for her and her circumstances. An unlikely pair may turn into something called a family.

And Minnie can sing! Could a dream of the Grand Ole Opry come true? Life has pleasant surprises on the way to redemption when all looks dim and bleak.

Minnie's father is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, her mother is dead and buried, and she has a Grand Ole Opry-worthy singing voice with no place to perform.

Has Nub been given a second chance to redeem himself?

KINFOLK is a heartwarming story of trials, tribulations, disappointment, and sadness to joy, love, acceptance, belonging, and second chances. When life is full of overlooked miracles—they never happen the way you expect them to.

The entire book is much like a country music song. Great characterization with Nub, Emily, and Minnie!

KINFOLK is a thought-provoking and uplifting story of forgiveness mixed with humor and the power of music, reminding us that every person has worth and value despite their circumstances. Be mindful of that in your everyday life. You never know whom you may come in contact with that could change your life.

"People who understand you. People who make your life richer. Your people. Your kinfolk."

The author is a wonderful Southern storyteller. I enjoyed KINFOLK in the audiobook format, narrated by the author with his authentic Southern voice, which will capture you with vivid settings, humor, song, and skillful storytelling.

My first book by the author. KINFOLK would make an emotional and entertaining movie.

Thanks to HarperMuse and NetGalley for a gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

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JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Nov 14, 2023
My Review: 4.5 Stars
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