I’m super excited to share my review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett with you today! This book has been everywhere and it was the GMA Book Club pick for June.
Synopsis
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. Ten 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.
Why did I choose to read this book
This book has been getting a lot of hype and I read some amazing reviews from OwnVoices reviewers on Instagram. I have been loving the GMA book club picks recently and I wanted to read more books by Black authors so I picked this one up.
Rating
4.5 Stars (An Excellent Book!)
My Thoughts
I don’t know what else I can say that hasn’t been said about this book. The premise of the book is so interesting but it is so much more than that. The story focuses not only on the two sisters but also their daughters. If you are looking for a powerful and relevant book pick this one up.
This is a character driven story that I know will stay with me for a while. I finished it about a week ago and I am still processing and thinking about it. I think this book would make a good book club pick because there a lots of things to discuss. Some of the topics addressed include: race, identity, class, culture, family and friendship.
While reading this book you get attached to the main characters but also to some amazing side characters like Reese and Early. I loved how she wrote a trans character and how she incorporated his story.
Brit Bennett’s writing is captivating and gorgeous but it took me a little while to get used to it. The pace of the book is slow as is typical with literary fiction so that is why I didn’t give it 5 stars. However, I am looking forward to reading more from the author. I’ve heard great things about her other novel The Mothers.
Impactful Quotes
“At first, passing seemed so simple, she couldn’t understand why her parents hadn’t done it. But she was young then. She hadn’t realized how long it takes to become somebody else, or how lonely it can be living in a world not meant for you”
Content Warnings
Domestic abuse, racism, death of a parent (murder), grief
Who I recommend this book to
I recommend this book to everyone! It is a powerful and impactful book that everyone should read.
Get the book!
Did I convince you to read this book? You can get The Vanishing Half from Bookshop.org here. Please consider ordering it from a Black owned independent bookstore. This list of Black owned independent bookstores accepts online ordering.
