The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

This book is getting a lot of praise and award nominations this year, and I can see why. The main part of the story is about twin sisters, Desiree and Stella, who both live in a small town full of people descended from the children of slaves and their white masters, so that everyone in the town is very light-skinned, but are still considered "coloured" and so are treated as such. Just the idea of this town itself was enough to intrigue me. The twin girls run away as teenagers, and while Desiree rebels by marrying the darkest man she can find, Stella ends up deciding to pass as white, and as a result totally abandons her family and background in order to keep her secret.

The book first follows Desiree for quite a few years after Stella leaves as she deals with an abusive husband and eventually goes back to her hometown with her very dark daughter, who gets terribly bullied. All the while she pines for her twin and searches for her. We also get to see her daughter grow up and fall in love with a trans Black man, and their relationship was one of my favourite aspects of the book. Eventually we find out where Stella went and how she has been handling life as a white woman, but one who feels like she's living a lie.

This book has a lot of really interesting things to say about race, white supremacy, and passing. We see how the next generations diverge and intersect, and how they all struggle with their identities and accepting themselves. It doesn't have a straightforward plot or timeline, but I always trusted that the author knew where she was going. It honestly felt quite masterful. The scope is wide but never too much to handle. It's definitely literary fiction, but not too challenging, and it's very immersive. I loved it.