Family Spirit
Coming In August
Family Spirit
Diane McKinney-Whetstone’s latest character-rich, page-turner blends her signature style with a little magic in her depiction of the Maces, a vibrant family of Philadelphia clairvoyants with issues.
Ayana has inherited the Knowing gene that the Maces believe has been passed down to at least one girl child in every generation from as far back as they can trace. But her mother has tried to convince her that she is nothing like those weird Mace women. To keep the peace, Ayana lies to everyone–to the Maces, insisting she’s never felt a Knowing; to her mother about participating in the rituals, and to herself about her relationship with a man who helps her recover time and time again from the mania she experiences after seeing into the future. Ayana’s aunt Lil, banned from the Mace home decades ago after violating a sacred vow, has returned to Philadelphia for a medical procedure. She settles into the chaos of her brother’s home where Ayana, a failing college senior, has also returned.
After a harrowing premonition, Ayana must decide whether to deepen family schisms by enlisting her aunt’s help, even as she learns the shocking details of Lil’s breech.
Meanwhile Nona, the woman writing the novel, becomes more of a participant than creator as her own drama is deftly interspersed throughout, as she too yields to the power of the Mace family and its indomitable spirit.
If you missed Diane McKinney-Whetstone discuss OUR GEN at the Free Library of Philadelphia, you can view it here:
Or listen to the podcast here:
https://libwww.freelibrary.org/podcast/episode/2165
Praise for Our Gen
Rooted in intrigue, humor and potential romance, though never far from heartache, Our Gen may be as close as revered and award-winning Philadelphia author Diane McKinney-Whetstone ever comes to the Beach Read section. Its main foursome — all nonwhite residents of a schmancy 55+ “active living” community somewhere outside Philly — like to drink, crack jokes and smoke weed, but there are secrets bubbling just under the surface that may threaten the group dynamic. As always, it’s about characters for McKinney-Whetstone, and these four leap off the page with charm, vitality, and vulnerability. –Philadelphia Inquirer
Focusing on a group of people who aren’t often at the center of stories filled with love, sex and laughter, Our Gen is warm and smart, accessible yet meaningful, a beach read with strong writing and emotional heft. –BookPage
McKinney-Whetstone has a gentle storytelling style peppered with delightful turns of phrase (“The sun had returned as if to retrieve a forgotten fedora”). Her sexagenarian characters Cynthia, Bloc, Tish, and Lavia live more boldly and more honestly than their adult-age children, and probably have more sex too. –Glamour
In Our Gen, (Diane McKinney-Whetstone) details the lives of four sexagenarian residents of a suburban retirement community who revel in youthful indulgences as they grapple with aging, regret, and long-held secrets. Told with tenderness, insight, and humor, it is a story that the author says is very much a response to the sociopolitical challenges of the last few years. -Sandra Ebejer, Shondaland
Also by Diane McKinney-Whetstone
Tumbling
Tempest Rising
Blues Dancing
Leaving Cecil Street
Trading Dreams At Midnight
Lazaretto
Our Gen
Family Spirit
Diane McKinney-Whetstone
Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the author of eight novels. The latest — Family spirit—will be published August 12, 2025. She mines the city of Philadelphia for her material. The blocks and neighborhoods themselves become characters as she tells stories of everyday people existing in families and communities; characters faltering, yielding to their desires, falling, fighting, climbing, reaching for their better selves. Twice awarded the American Library Association Black Caucus Literary Award for Fiction, she is also a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant.
Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, Essence Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She is a past lecturer in the writing program at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives with her husband Greg in Philadelphia.
