352 pages
English language
Published June 2, 2020
Brit Bennett’s chart topping novel, The Vanishing Half, is a story that tracks the lives of twin African American twin sisters who, after witnessing the murder of their father, run away at age 16. One sister begins passing as white and the other sister remains true to her identity. The Vanishing Half explores the intricacies of identity, family, and race in a provocative, but compassionate way.
The book was engaging and the characters (mostly) well-developed. I felt that Part 5 dragged, though, which is one reason I couldn't give it five stars. I think the book should have ended sooner.
The narration was brilliant.
Start with two very light skinned African American twin girls from a small town in Louisiana, a father killed in a lynching, a very dark skinned African American man who works for the FBI in the time of J. Edgar Hoover, a bounty hunter, the Yale educated son of a wealthy banker, an aspiring actress trying to find herself, a young African American woman from a poor family going to medical school, a transgender African American male, transvestites seeing their friends die during the early days of AIDS.
Add masterful writing and mix well. You end up with a compelling novel that will challenge how you think about the people you encounter. What are the stories of the people around you? How can you learn from being part of a more complicated diverse world.
Read this book.
I know this is wildly popular. It just didn't do it for me. The book is too long to have insufficiently developed characters and very little story movement.
This was a lovely story about family, love, and the consequences we face when we choose to reject our born identities. Would recommend.
