The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
What would you do if you had the chance to become someone else in order to feel safe? In Brit Bennett’s new book The Vanishing Half, we learn just how far a sister goes to do just that.
Twins Stella and Desiree Vignes left their small town of Mallard, a place full of nothing but extremely light-skinned Black people, when they were 16 years old. Desiree, the more outgoing one, wanted to leave Mallard as soon as possible. Her sister Stella, the quiet one who wanted nothing more then to go to college, had no desire to leave. But when the twins are forced to leave school to help their mother financially, Stella changes her mind and the girls leave for New Orleans. The story takes a turn when Stella makes the decision to live her life as a white woman, leaving Desiree behind.
I have heard stories about light-skinned Blacks who have “passed,” meaning they were able to present themselves as white in order to escape the oppression of living in America while Black. I can understand how tempting it can be, as the level of racism from white America is almost unbearable. Black people have been murdered, raped, beaten, incarcerated, financially stymied on every level and policed literally to death for centuries. So Stella deciding that she doesn’t want to deal with any of that to live a life of ease is understandable. But it was incredible to read how she felt the entire time and how she lived with the constant fear of being found out.
Desiree did no such thing, which lead her to live a completely different life than her sister. I was especially intrigued by her daughter, Jude, a very dark-skinned girl living in America. I had a strong affinity for her because I know what this world is like for dark-skinned Black women. I felt every horrible name she was called, empathized with how she was treated like a terrible secret by the boy she liked, and cheered her on as she became the woman she was meant to be in spite of it all.
This is the second novel by Brit Bennett and she has written a story that will keep you reading because you MUST get to the end. The characters are written with an emotional depth that feels relatable but also like people you’ve never met. I especially enjoyed how the character Reese was written (I won’t spoil anything about this character) and hope characters like him become the norm. The relationships in this book are fraught on so many levels, but contain a love that is felt deep down, even when time and distance keeps them apart.
The Vanishing Half is a #1 New York Times bestseller and it is so well deserved. I implore my readers to order it from your local bookstore or borrow it from the library. It is not one to be missed.
Where to buy: The Lit. Bar Loyalty Bookstores Indiebound Amazon
Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half.
Photo courtesy of Emma Trim. For more information about Ms. Bennett, go to her website.
