#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEARNAMED 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, … 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.more
It’s not going out on a limb to recommend “The Vanishing Half” as one of the best novels of 2020. But beyond her Jenga-puzzle plotting that fits so pleasingly together, Brit Bennet has created such a weirdly inviting world: a small, self-policing Southern community devoted entirely to light-skinned Black people. Naturally, this world inflicts some psychological damage on some of its residents—and therein lies the story…
Altho I didn’t think characters were developed as much as I’d like, the story of race in America was interesting. What does being Black mean?
In a book populated with fascinating characters, perhaps the most compelling is the town of Mallard, Louisiana. A town so small it isn’t even on maps. A town absorbed by a larger town. A town of judgment and acceptance. A town where the Black people have skin so light, they could pass for white.
Identical twin girls Desiree and Stella grow up in Mallard, but they have no intention of staying. Given the opportunity, they run away to New Orleans. This change of scenery, though, proves destructive, breaking the sisters apart. Desiree marries a man whose skin is so black, it almost looks blue, while Stella lets people believe she is white.
While Brit Bennett examines race–particularly the way people sharing a race view and judge each other–but the more important theme she addresses is that of choice and its ramifications. Desiree yearns to escape Mallard, so she does, bringing Stella with her. Stella yearns to escape her Blackness, so she does, leaving Desiree behind. The consequences of those decisions determine who the sisters will become. Bennett extends this question of choice with other characters, too, particularly the daughters of Desiree and Stella and the boyfriend of one of the daughters. They, too, choose courses that impact not just their lives but their families as well.
And then there is Mallard, who decides nothing for itself. Its founder stuck his flag of pale Blackness in the ground, and generations followed. People come, people go, and Mallard remains, invisible to the world outside it. Desiree and Stella are very much the products of their childhoods, each choosing a different response.
Brit Bennett’s writing moved me at every turn. The slow progression through Desiree to Stella’s perspectives might frustrate you, but it is purposeful in its representation of the two women. So stick with it. You must.
Wow. Stunning, breathtaking. The writing! This story. I’m so glad I read it.
The Vignes sisters are light skinned black girls who can pass for white. But as they grow older, the lives of these twin sisters take very divergent paths. A beautifully written & thought provoking tale of secrets, family, regrets, identity and how it all impacts present and future generations.
Reading from different perspectives is what readers should do to get a better understanding of what Black Lives Matter is really about. This book helped create an understanding for me.
Book Review: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020) (Fiction) (YA) (Adult)
4 Stars****
The story begins in 1968 in the sleepy, insignificant town of Mallard, Louisiana. This town is not even noted on a map, so what makes this town unique? Just about all of the residents are mixed race white or light-skinned blacks. Most could pass for white by appearance, but don’t want to, that is until one attractive woman serves as a successful example that is followed by one of our main characters. We meet the beautifully striking, lustrous black-haired, violet-eyed, identical Vignes twins: Stella and Desiree who, at sixteen years old, decide to run off together to New Orleans in search of opportunities that are nonexistent in their hometown.
As much as these two women look the same, they do not think the same. Stella, the adventurous, confident one, eventually leaves behind her much shyer, less secure sister. Stella realizes an opportunity, grabs on to it, and lives her life far away as a white woman as if she never was Stella Vignes from Mallard, LA. Desiree eventually finds her way back to Mallard, now embracing the destiny she tried so hard to avoid.
The issue of race is constant. The lighter the skin, the more easily accepted. Barriers seem temporary. Opportunities abound. Hard work and diligence always pay off. The sisters marry men who are polar opposites of each other. One marriage thrives with the lies. The other ends badly with the truth, but destiny steps in to turn the tide. Both sisters have ambitious, self-motivated daughters who look nothing alike. Very often, the truth is an obstacle to realization of goals, so it must be avoided at all costs. If you thought the truth of any situation would devastate someone you loved, would you choose to reveal or hide it at all costs?
The ending was abrupt, like a door being slammed in my face. I wanted more. Transitions were often lacking whereby we were suddenly transported. I often found myself confused as to which character was actually speaking. The story is told in alternating chapter updates about each character highlighting how their paths diverge from what is shared to the veiling and denial of their roots.
Significance of the title? Anything the characters don’t want to admit about their families is erased from memory and from everyday life. Lie when necessary to protect the illusion’ so the dots of the truth cannot be connected.
This book is beautifully written with rich vocabulary and clearly defined characters. This book is an excellent example of literature, rather than the prevailing commercial successes of psychological manipulations. Optioned by HBO, we can expect a mini-series soon. I can’t wait!
I absolutely loved this book but I am selfish and wanted more! I turned the last page and was so very sad! I guess that is how you know it was a wonderful book, being sad it is over! I loved the characters and the descriptions had me living inside the book.
I enjoyed this book. Well written, thought-provoking. I wish I belonged to a book club so that I could discuss it with others. Definitely recommend.
HBO recently picked up the rights to the story and I look forward to seeing it come to life on the screen.
Awesome read
Fascinating how we humans decide what is acceptable and what is not.
I read this in one day. In awe of how Bennett wrote such a complex, detailed & intricate story of twins; with racism, class, culture & choices. It made me sad for how our world forces some choices.
It lives up to all the hype. One of my best of 2020.
This was such a powerful and heartbreaking story. I listened to it via Audible and the narrator was absolutely perfect. I could have listened to her talk forever.
Desiree and Stella Vignes are twin sisters growing up in a Louisiana town so small it’s not on any map. It’s a town made up of light-skinned black folks who pride themselves on how each generation just gets whiter and whiter. They look down on anyone who’s darker than them and make no attempts to hide their prejudice, which is sad and confusing in-and-of-itself.
Feeling suffocated and trapped by the life Mallard has laid out for them, Stella and Desiree run away to New Orléans in an attempt to make better lives for themselves.
However in their search for something more, they end up losing one another.
The story spans 20-30 years, flitting back and forth between Stella and Desiree and their children Jude and Kennedy. Going from Mallard Louisiana to New Orléans to Los Angeles to New York City, we learn what became of each sister and how their choices go on to affect the lives of their daughters.
This is a story of love, loss, lies, prejudice, acceptance and forgiveness. This was such an amazing book and I’m so glad I listened to it. I absolutely recommend this. The Vignes sisters will stay with you long after you’ve read (or listened to) the very last page.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Hard to put down a must read ! Opened up my eyes to the challenges faced !! Joni B
A very good read. Great characters. You can never escape your past. You can choose your own paths in life, but you must be honest about yourself, embrace your past and love yourself before you can truly be happy.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I was fascinated by the concept of identical twins choosing totally different life paths. Desiree and Stella Vignes are light-skinned African Americans. When they run away from their tiny hometown of Mallard, a town where everyone is a light skinned African American who looks down on darker skinned people, they eventually go in separate directions. Desiree marrys a very dark-skinned man with whom she has a daughter. She leaves her abusive husband and returns to Mallard with her very dark skinned daughter in tow.
Stella “passes” for white, marries a wealthy white man, also has a daughter, and lives as white woman in the belief that she would find more happiness in life by being white. No one, not even her husband, knows her secret.
The choices each woman makes have a powerful impact on others, especially their daughters.
The author has filled this story with fascinating characters who grow and develop in the most unexpected ways over the course of the story. There is so much depth to this story, so many layers to be revealed. It is a book that really makes the reader think about many questions – identity, truth, relationships, consequences of choices made, and much more. There are also some wonderful instances of irony in this story, many touching moments as well as some gut-wrenching ones.
This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long while. Very highly recommended!
“Vanishing self” is an interesting, informative and thought-provoking read, especially during the current national protests against racism.
I really enjoyed Brit Bennett’s first book and this one is even better. I love books featuring complicated families and multiple points of view and this one has both. Desiree and Stella Vignes are light skinned black twins who grow up in Mallard, Louisiana. After they watch their father get beaten and killed by white men, their lives take different turns. Stella decides to pass as white, while Desiree embraces her heritage and marries a dark-skinned black man. Years later, their daughters, Stella’s fair Kennedy, and Desiree’s blueblack Jude find each other and try to make sense of their mothers’ upbringing and history. This book conquers so many themes: racism, family connection, parenthood, identity and so much more. I relished every single word of the gorgeous writing and I empathized with each and every character. This is bound to be one of the most highly praised books of the year.
I really enjoyed Brit Bennett’s first book and this one is even better. I love books featuring complicated families and multiple points of view and this one has both. Desiree and Stella Vignes are light skinned black twins who grow up in Mallard, Louisiana. After they watch their father get beaten and killed by white men, their lives take different turns. Stella decides to pass as white, while Desiree embraces her heritage and marries a dark-skinned black man. Years later, their daughters, Stella’s fair Kennedy, and Desiree’s blueblack Jude find each other and try to make sense of their mothers’ upbringing and history. This book conquers so many themes: racism, family connection, parenthood, identity and so much more. I relished every single word of the gorgeous writing and I empathized with each and every character. This is bound to be one of the most highly praised books of the year.
“People thought that being one of a kind made you special. No, it just made you lonely. What was special was belonging with someone else.”
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I want to preface my review by saying that I am not a “hype” reader & I pick books up based on my mood, so I like to think that my reviews are based strictly on what I, personally, thought about them & not what I think I should say due to the hype. So, with all that being said…for me, this book 100% lived up to its hype & the reviews are spot on! It was an amazing read & grabbed me from the first page until the last! This multi-generational story about identical, light-skinned black twins, Stella & Desiree, who take two totally different paths in life…one living as a black woman & one living as a white woman between the 1950’s & 1990’s…is a must read that I will be pushing all my friends to pick up! @britrbennett is such a beautiful writer who brings her characters to life in such a real, raw & honest way that I was emotionally connected to them all. I simply fell in love with Jude, Reese & Early and am going to miss having them in my daily reading life. This book will stay with me forever & I hope everyone gets a chance to read it, truly take it in & make changes within ourselves! We really do need to make this world a better place…starting NOW!