What's Mine and Yours

By: Naima Coster

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

An instant New York Times best seller!

A USA Today best seller!

Named a Best Book of 2021 by Amazon • Esquire • Marie Claire • Refinery29 • Kirkus • Redbook • Ms. Magazine • The Millions • Undomesticated Magazine • Paperback Paris

"A once-every-few-years reading experience." (Mary Beth Keane, New York Times best-selling author of Ask Again, Yes)

"Coster portrays her characters’ worlds with startling vitality. As the children fall in lust and love, grapple with angst and battle the tides of New South politics, Coster’s writing shines." (New York Times Book Review)

From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family - and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly White high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the next 20 years.

On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he'll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious young Black man. On the other side is Noelle's headstrong mother, Lacey May, a White woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but White. She strives to protect them as she couldn't protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.

When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers - each determined to see her child inherit a better life - will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.

As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What's Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.

©2021 Naima Coster (P)2021 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

“At its heart, What’s Mine and Yours is a coming-of-age story - one that examines the unraveling of marriages, complexities of siblinghood, and reckonings with parents…. Coster portrays her characters’ worlds with startling vitality. As the children fall in lust and love, grapple with angst and battle the tides of New South politics, Coster’s writing shines." (New York Times Book Review)

“Coster’s remarkable characters, each one of them authentically flawed and gorgeously realized, propel this wise and loving story ever forward, making for a graceful meditation on family, inequality, and the ties that bind.” (Esquire)

"Coster…depict[s the characters] complex situations and moral ambiguities with depth and compassion. Weaving numerous plot threads - miscarriages, abortions, divorces, brain tumors, benders - into an intricate tapestry, Coster shows, as one of her indelible minor characters declares, that 'It's only our life if we say so. Otherwise it belongs to them'." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Wonderful book!!

I saw Jenna Bush raving about this book on TV and she hasn't steered me wrong yet, so I went straight to Audible where my new credits were waiting and got it.
WOW!!!
Wonderful doesn't even describe it. I loved this book so much. In fact, it may be one i listen to again....and again.....and again.
When i first downloaded it and immediately heard Bahni Turpin's voice, I couldn't believe my luck. One of my favorite female narrators ever!
Highly recommended. By me, and Jenna Bush 😉

Beautifully painful story of difficult lives

Heard about the book in All Things Considered, while driving home from work. The interview with the author (briefly touching on grief, race and motherhood) caught my attention right away.

Ended the book crying. All of the characters were compelling, and the making and breaking of relationships was really heartbreaking at times. The intertwined stories across decades were very poignant. While the integration of the high school was front and center during a large part of the book, I would say the racial aspect of the story was more about how interactions with individual people shape/change our perception of race throughout our lives, and how prejudices can easily be amplified when they are echoed by other people with similar ideas.

I only wish the table of contents had been included as a PDF for the book because it was hard to keep track of the chronological timeline and locations in audio format, since every chapter is narrated out of order (except for the first and last).

Performance was truly great. Some of the female voices sounded a little bit similar at times, but there were so many characters that I am still super impressed with the voice actor. Only part I'd nitpick would be that pronunciation of the Spanish word "jíbara" was off, but Puerto Ricans would probably be the only ones to notice ;)

Went in blind

I went into this really not knowing anything about this book. Once I got to know love/hate the people I really enjoyed the book. I felt like some of it was a little rough to listen to but for the most part it was a great book.

Wasted credit

It never really got to a point. It was a little hard to follow sometimes and then it just suddenly ended. I love Bahni Turpin's narration. She's a great narrator but the story wasn't much to work with.

Didn't come together

The book started well, & I normally like this kind of family story. This one just didn't hold together. Even Bahni Turpin's performance was off. I was disappointed because one reviewer likened it to Ask Again Yes, which was a 5 star rating for me.

Super boring and had no point

This plot was very muddled and I really didn’t understand what the point was at all. It was a bunch of rambling mini plots of underdeveloped characters squabbling over family issues. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Listening was easy

It was a well written and narrated book. At times it took some time to jump back and forth but it was very well done

Loved it!

I really enjoyed the book. It took a couple time jumps to really get in to the story but I was on pins and needles to find out how these families faired. All the descriptions I read talked about the school integration, but I feel like it was a disservice to the actual story since it doesn't come up til halfway the story.

I loved the character arcs. I wished I got more insight to what happened Nelson post divorce. It seemed as if his story became the background to Noelle's foreground. As I typed that, it seems as if it might have been on purpose.

Snooze

I really like the narrator, very good job. I liked the premise of the story, but it was pretty boring. A missed opportunity.

Raw, Real and Beautiful

I could feel the characters in this book. I felt like I knew them, ached with them, celebrated with them. It was a beautiful story intertwining two families and slips effortlessly throughout time to deliver a suspenseful, raw, emotional story of all the painful and wonderful ways life works.