Family Spirit, Diane McKinneyWhetstone
Family Spirit, Diane McKinneyWhetstone
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Family Spirit
A Novel

Author: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Narrator: Adenrele Ojo

Unabridged: 7 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Amistad

Published: 08/12/2025

Synopsis

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 have 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, 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.

About Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Our Gen, Tumbling, Lazaretto, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Literary Award for Fiction, which she won twice. A past lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, her work has appeared in the Atlantic, Essence Philadelphia magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ciana on August 21, 2025

Whetstone provides us with a meta narrative, we meet Nona an author who is married to Bob, a pilot, who she suspects is cheating on her. Nona is writing a story about Ayana a young clairvoyant woman whose gift stems from her paternal family, the Maces. The Maces are a family of seers and the gift is......more

Goodreads review by The Page Ladies on August 18, 2025

Family Spirit by Diane McKinney-Whetstone has everything I love in a family saga messy secrets, generational drama, a touch of magic, and characters who feel like people you actually know or are related to! Ayana is supposed to carry on the Mace family’s Knowing, a gift that lets her see into the fut......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on July 13, 2025

Diane McKinney-Whetstone’s Family Spirit is a lush, character-first novel that turns generational drama into something magical—literally. Set in a vividly drawn Philadelphia, the story follows Lil Mace, a prodigiously gifted clairvoyant, as she returns home for cancer treatment after years of painfu......more

Goodreads review by Quaterria on August 12, 2025

Thank you Amistad for the free book! I do really enjoy books with magical realism and this book encompasses just that as it tells the story of Ayana, a member of the family of Mace women who has inherited the "knowing" gene but has to hide it from her mother. One day, Ayana has a vision that severel......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on August 17, 2025

I enjoy a book featuring magical realism and this one did not disappoint. This is the story, employing dual timelines, to focus Ayana and Lil and their coming to terms with their gifts of “knowing”. It is a beautiful story of family, tradition and acceptance. The story of Nona is intertwined with th......more

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