
'The Vanishing Half' by Brit Bennett tells the story of light-skinned identical twins, Desiree and Stella, who leave their small town where lightness of skin is highly valued. Stella decides to pass as a white woman, while Desiree marries a dark man and returns to their hometown with her dark-skinned daughter. The novel explores the lives of the daughters of the twins, spanning from Louisiana to New York City, delving into themes of race, identity, family dynamics, and the consequences of choices made.
The book is a multigenerational family saga that intricately weaves together the lives of the twin sisters, their daughters, and explores themes of racial identity, gender, family relationships, and the impact of societal norms. The writing is beautiful, the story thought-provoking, and the characters feel real, making it a compelling and immersive read that spans decades and various locations.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The content warnings for The Vanishing Half include themes of abuse, racism, violence, and discussions about identity and passing.
Has Romance?
There is a medium level of romance in The Vanishing Half, particularly in the relationships of the daughters.
From The Publisher:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE* VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR
2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST
"Bennett's tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it's especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison's 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye." -Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
"A story of absolute, universal timelessness …For any era, it's an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it's piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be…." - Entertainment Weekly
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
Ratings (123)
Incredible (17) | |
Loved It (48) | |
Liked It (38) | |
It Was OK (16) | |
Did Not Like (3) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (269):
Read It (127) | |
Currently Reading (4) | |
Want To Read (104) | |
Did Not Finish (4) | |
Not Interested (30) |
4 comment(s)
The vanishing half by Brit Bennett and Hamnet by Maggie OFarell is by far the most hyped books this year for me and I finally got my little hands on them. This book did absolutely live up to the hype. It's a wonderful, sometimes though read with a lot emotions and powerful story told in a beautiful way. I was hooked on the story and hated when I had to other things than reading. It tells an important story about family, race and finding yourself. Highly recommend!
****4.0****
Here we meet “creamy skinned, hazel eyed” identical twins, Stella and Desiree Vignes. They are from a town called Mallard (a fictional town) inhabited by light-skinned African Americans. Stella is bookish and always behind her twin. Desiree is more headstrong and spirited. They run off from home when their mother wants them to start working and stop having an education. They end up in New Orleans. They find jobs to keep themselves afloat.
“In the dark, you could never be too black. In the dark, everyone was the same color.”
Stella passes as a White to get a secretary job and soon deserts Desiree. And heartbroken Desiree goes on with her life but still gets in touch with her mother from time to time. Stella just vanishes into her so called White lady life.
“The only difference between lying and acting was whether your audience was in on it, but it was all a performance just the same.”
In their 20's , Desiree is back at Mallard with her daughter Jude and Stella is a white housewife with a daughter Kennedy. A decade later, coincedently, Jude ,dark-skinned caterer and Kennedy ,golden-haired customer, meet at a cocktail party. They are ignorant of each other but slowly piece together the puzzle of their mothers’ relationship.
“Gratitude only emphasized the depth of your lack,”
Well written with engrossing plot and richly detailed settings. A wonderful read.
Happy Reading!!
It was written well. Yet there were many parts that were lacking. The end was eh. It felt as if it end characters in the middle of the story.
Must Read for Persons on Their Journey to Self-Discovery
Maxwell Maltz once said, “you can always find the sun within yourself if you will only search.”
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About the Author:
Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, The Mothers, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for both the NBCC John Leonard First Novel Prize and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. Her second novel, The Vanishing Half, was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller, longlisted for the National Book Award, a finalist for the Women's Prize, and named one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times. Bennet has been named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, a NAACP Image Award Finalist, and one of Time's Next 100 Influential People. Her essays have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.
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