Fantastic book, such amazing characters.
A story that covers race and how we identify ourselves and see people in society, whatever shape or color that is.
A truly wonderful story of love, loss and finding who we are as a person, and as part of a family.
A must read,
Bennett has done it again, a wonderful writer and storyteller.

✨ This book .... my heart was both bursting and heartbroken at the same time💓💔 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 (swipe for plot 👉🏻) but wow... I just couldn’t put this book down! ✍🏻 Spanning decades and told from the POVs of Desiree and Stella, and then their own daughters; this was one powerful and thought- provoking read, where love, racism and gender identity are at the forefront. 💔 We felt EVERYTHING these girls felt throughout the pages, @britrbennett writing was just FANTASTIC 👏🏻👏🏻⁣
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✨ I was totally captivated by this book and I’m sure you will be too! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣

I once saw a study that was done on a group of children aged 3-5. The children were from a mix of different nationalities. They gave these children headshots of other children. They asked the children to order the pictures from the most beautiful to the ugliest. They then asked them to put them in order of children who looked like nice, good children to bad and naughty children. Every child placed light-skinned children at the pretty and good ends of the scale, with the children with the darkest skin at the bad and ugly end. I found this so heartbreaking to watch - that even at such a young age, these children had already experienced racial prejudice.

Mallard is a small town populated exclusively by extremely fair-skinned black people. Set in Louisianna in the years from the 1960s to 1980s, the people of Mallard know that despite their fair skin they will never be accepted as white, but definitely believe that they are better than if they were black. They only marry and have children with other fair-skinned black people in hopes of getting lighter and lighter.

This book is a story of twin sisters who run away from the small town they grew up in and eventually go their separate ways. Years later Desiree returns home with her daughter, fleeing her abusive husband. Desiree's daughter is very dark-skinned and spends her childhood being bullied by the people of Mallard for her skin colour.

Desiree's twin sister Stella is living in LA and has 'crossed over'. Meaning that she now lives as a white woman and no one knows the truth about her past. Not her husband and not her daughter.

This was a new type of racism to me and I found it very difficult to read and review. As a white British woman, I grew up in a position of privilege where racism was not something I was aware of as still existing until I reached adulthood. Even then I imagined that racism was almost completely extinct in my lifetime, only resurfacing in isolated incidents in the United States. It has only been in the last decade or so that I have realised the extent of racism still active, How is it possible that in 2020 we still live like this? Racism is still very real today and to be judged for the level of melanin in your skin is insanity. I understand, that I can never understand what it's like to live this way.

The storyline in this book is a family drama, and it's not the most gripping storyline, however, this book reminds me of a lot of Victorian classics, where the story is not really what's important, so much as the message. The Vanishing Half is a good story, but I believe that entertainment is just the vehicle for the true message of highlighting racial injustice first and LGBTQ+ difficulties during this period as a secondary purpose.

Everybody in the small Louisiana town of Mallard has always just called them the twins. That’s what Desiree and Stella Vignes are, just like some inseparable unit. Together they grow up, together they ran away to find a better life. A big dream for two black girls in the middle of the 20th century when segregation is a fact and opportunities for girls are limited. But then, Stella finds a job as a secretary, due to her relatively fair skin, they mistake her for white and with her diligence, she suddenly sees the chance to reinvent herself. After years of playing the role of the white secretary, she is ready to turn the role into her new self, but this requires leaving everything behind, also her twin sister. The girls take different roads, but they can never forget each other completely. It will take years until their paths will cross again and until they will need to ask themselves who they are and who they only pretend to be.

Brit Bennett’s novel covers the time span from the 1950s when the twins are only teenagers until the end of the 20th century when they have grown-up daughters. It is a tale of two young girls who are connected by their looks but quite different in character, girls with hopes and dreams living in a time when chances in life are determined by the skin colour. One of them accepts things as they are, the other decides to make the best for herself of it, but the price she has to pay is high and it is also a price her daughter will have to pay, ignorant of her mother’s story. Beautifully written the author not only follows the fate of the two individuals, but she also mirrors in their fate a society in which some alleged truths are deeply rooted.

When starting reading, you have the impression of being thrown in at the deep end. Somehow, you are in the middle of the story and first need to sort out the characters and circumstances. The author sticks to the backwards and forwards kind of narration which only little by little reveals what happened to the sisters. Just as both of them are ill-informed about the other’s fate, you as a reader, too, have to put the bits and pieces together to make it a complete story. I totally adored that way of gradually revealing what happened to them.

The narrative also quite convincingly shows that you can never just make a decision for your own life, it will always have an impact on other people, too, and even if you imagine having left all behind you and buried it deep inside your head, one day, the truth will come out and you’ll have to explain yourself. Brit Bennett similarly demonstrates how fragile our concepts of race, gender, class and even identity can be. We might easily be misled because quite often we only see what we want to see and prefer looking away over confronting our stereotypical thinking.

A must read drama with strong characters but also a lot of food for thought.

I’ve read so many good books lately that I’m conscious my luck has to eventually run out. But not today... Identity is at the heart of this much anticipated second novel from Brit Barrett, set in Mallard, a fictional town in Louisiana. Mallard was established by Alphonse Decuir in 1848, “for men like him, who would never be accepted as white, but refused to be treated as negroes”. Twins Stella & Desiree Vignes, descendants of Decuir, born in 1938, have “creamy skin, hazel eyes & wavy hair”. However, despite this, they do not escape racism and witness their father being dragged from his home and lynched to death by a gang of white men.

At 16 the twins leave for New Orleans to escape a life of poverty. Its here that Stella “passes over”, by pretending to be white to get a job. I wasn’t familiar with the concept of “passing over” or “passé blanc”, a term originally attributed to Louisiana Creoles of colour who were so light skinned, they could pass as white. Stella contemplates that there’s “nothing to being white except boldness” & starts a new chapter in her life, leaving Desiree behind in New Orleans, to follow her eventual husband to Boston.

As their lives diverge, the twins lead very different lifestyles over the course of 50 years. Stella lives as a wealthy white woman, in Los Angeles, never revealing her past to her husband & daughter. Her life is split between two women, ”each real, each a lie”, never truly feeling either white or black. Desiree, escaping a violent husband, returns to Mallard with her daughter. Apart from the duality of the twins themselves, there are many aspects of identity explored in the book which contains a rich array of drag queens, transsexuals & actors. The lives of the twins two daughters, Jude and Kennedy, also curiously mirrors that of their mothers.

This is a beautifully told family saga of intertwined lives, primarily dealing with racism & racial inequality, but also telling a rich story of family, relationships and how our lives are shaped by our experiences. Do yourself a favour and read this. Thank you to @netgalley & @littlebrownbookgroup for this book in return for my honest review. Thank you also Brit Bennett for this little treasure.

‘She’d always felt like the older sister, even though she only was by a matter of minutes. But maybe in those seven minutes they’d first been apart, they’d each lived a lifetime, setting out on their separate paths. Each discovering who she might be.’

We’re halfway through 2020 and I've already found my favorite book of this year. The Vanishing Half was everything I’d hoped for and more. A unique plot,
full of secrets, complex family relationships and the exploration of important themes such as race and identity. I loved the characters and their storylines, especially those of Jude/Reese and Stella.

Brit Bennett is an amazing storyteller and I can’t wait to read The Mothers and her future work.

The Vanishing Half is probably one of my favourite books of 2020. This book is beautiful, heartbreaking, emotional and full of life, love and humanity. At the core, Brit Bennett writes about family, identity, womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, love, and grief. The Vanishing Half packs punch as it covers themes of race, class, poverty, identity, being transgender and LGBTQ+ and more. Brit Bennett stole my heart with her writing, with her characters and with this book.

The book is about Desiree Vignes and her twin Stella Vignes who grow up in a small black community in a village called Mallard, Louisiana. When the girls reach their teenage years their lives take vastly different trajectories, as Stella abandons her family, her sister, and her identity to become a white woman, a white wife and a white mother. Desiree on the other hand marries a black man, has a black daughter and does not forget her roots in Mallard. The story begins in the 1950s, but jumps across time as we see the girls and their daughters grow up and how their lives differ and yet still intersect in different ways.

The characters in this book were absolutely phenomenal. They were written with such depth, emotion and realness that I was entirely absorbed in every moment, every detail of their story. The story of Jude and Reese was ultimately my favourite aspect of this book. Jude, who is the daughter of Desiree and Reese the boy she meets in California.

I loved Brit Bennett's use of time jumps to frame the different moments and different periods of the history of the twins and their daughters. I loved the different geographical changes that symbolised different moments and events in the lives of the characters. I loved how seamlessly she interwove these jumps in moments, the shifts in character perspectives and narratives and how it all fitted to build a picture of two lives, two histories, but ultimately one family narrative. I loved literally everything about this book.

I often find it difficult to put into words why I love books that speak to me so much, and that fill me with such emotions and thoughts. One thing is clear,The Vanishing Half offers a really powerful exploration of race and race relations as we see how being either black or white can make such a profound difference on two sisters experiences.

I would urge you all to pick up this book because it was beautiful, emotive and covered so many fantastic themes. I received an eARC from Netgalley and Little Brown Book UK in exchange for a review, but I will definitely be purchasing my own physical copy of this book because I adored it so so much.

The Vanishing Half is Brit Bennett’s second novel, after 2016’s The Mothers, her debut. According to Wikipedia, it’s been discussed as being adapted for film, with Kerry Washington attached to produce.

I know I’m old when I do some research for an author and am shocked at their age – Bennett is 30 years old and already written two books, with a third not too far off. I haven’t read The Mothers but it’s on my list after this one.

The story opens in a town called Mallard, somewhere near New Orleans but not on any map. The population there are light coloured black people, who are ginger and blonde and brunette. Trapped somewhere between black and white, not really welcome in the company of either but their own, the townspeople found their own place. This brings with it prejudice of its own, as they are encouraged, and keen to, only marry someone lighter skinned than they are.

I found the foundation of this story fascinating – for me as a white woman especially, I haven’t been exposed to that feeling, that ‘advice’, that racist view that the lighter skinned you are, the better. There was another part to it for me, the idea that even within this town where everyone is united by their skin colour, there were still prejudices and a hierarchy, when the town’s founding line marries a son in the pub business, there are mutterings about money and status. At the end of the book there’s a bit of an acknowledgements section, and Brit Bennett talks about how there are, or were, real life examples of towns like these across America.

The twins at the centre of the story are Desiree and Stella – beautiful girls who may look alike but are different in personalities. They are both united in their quest to get away from the dull place they grew up in, where their futures look like being maids and household staff to rich white people – no matter how light your skin is, black is black and in the 1950s, you are who you are, as the girls soon learn.

Without too much of a spoiler (although this is in the blurb so not too much of a giveaway, I think), the girls run off together, leaving their mother on her own. The story picks up again a few years later, when the rumour mill goes into overdrive as one of the twins returns, child in tow but no father in sight.

I loved this book for the gentle exploration into the difficulty of family. Of feeling blood related but only skin deep (and sometimes, not even that). About being born into the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong people and ultimately spending your whole life searching for that space where you feel truly yourself.

When I first started reading, I actually thought it would be more of a murder mystery as the search for the other twin continued. It’s a bit different than that and has a much wider timespan, getting us almost up to the present day. I loved that as well, actually – a few times in the writing, Brit Bennett announces things that happen in the future, or declares that it’s the last time those characters meet. It felt much more current, somehow, and much more up to date in this way. One of my pet hates in books is too much time keeping the reader guessing – like when that Bad Thing happens, except you don’t find out about it for chapters afterwards and by then you’re so bored of the references it’s not a shock. This doesn’t do that at all – character’s fates are revealed in the next sentence, which is quite relaxing, actually.

The story also encompasses two women with a tentative friendship, trying to find their way in the world against the backdrop of 1980s America. I particularly liked Jude’s sections with ‘the girls’ – the guys who lead ‘boring, standard’ lives during the week and morph into glitzy glamour queens to sing or lipsync on stage at the weekends. These encounters are also tinged with sadness – Barry isn’t able to buy his own make up as he’d draw attention to himself and blow his cover as a teacher, so he picks out what he wants and gives Jude the cash. It’s another insight into a life I haven’t, and am likely to never will, need to experience at first hand. I can’t imagine not being able to buy what you want without being scrutinised, followed and judged. I naively hope that it’s different now, in this age, but I fear it might not be for some.

The Vanishing Half wasn’t what I expected it to be, and it was surprising for that. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, felt their sadnesses and joy with them and actually, wanted to know more about their lives – what did they do next? What are they doing now? A sign of a good book, I think. Keep an eye out for Brit Bennett!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and thanks as always to the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group UK, for the digital ARC.

I picked this book up after the events of this weekend as it seemed like the perfect way to dip my toe into educating myself. Wow what a read. So well written and so interesting! I’ve never read anything by Britt Bennett but this won’t be my last. The story is around two twin sisters and moved back and forth in time and between the twins two different perspectives. The writing is beautiful and I fell in love with the story. I will be recommending it to my book club.

This is a really interesting and unusual exploration of racial and gender identity, and how our perceptions of ourselves and others are influenced by appearance. It begins in the 1950s, where twins Stella and Desiree grow up in Mallard, a Southern American town so small it appears on no map. It is distinctive for the lightness of skin of its inhabitants, who are themselves classified as “coloured” but even so are prejudiced against dark skins. The father of the twins was lynched in front of them when they were children, a brutal reminder of their place in society. As teenagers, they escape to build new lives in the city, but then Stella disappears, breaking all contact with her family, and it emerges that she has been passing as white. Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter, who is so dark-skinned that she suffers endless disapproval and bullying, while Stella marries into a life of wealth and privilege but lives in constant fear of being found out and finds it impossible to fit in. The book raises fundamental questions- why does what we look like matter so much? Does it dictate who we are? Can we only be ourselves with our own tribe? These considerations also apply to our perceptions of gender and sexuality, as Desiree’s daughter moves away to college and befriends transexual Reece and the drag queens at a local club, well-rounded characters who offer acceptance, tolerance and love. None of this makes the book didactic, and the wider story is one of family ties, finding your way in the world and, as the narrative moves into the 1980s, making slow progress into a better future. A great read on so many levels.

With an endorsement from Bernardine Evaristo and a mention on The High Low podcast — the ultimate source of literary recommendations — it would have been wrong of me not to have read ‘The Vanishing Half.’

Stella and Desiree Vignes were born in a small black Louisiana community called Mallard, barely visible on the map. Founded by their ancestor in the mid-nineteenth century, what sets the community of Mallard apart is the fact that everyone who lives there has light skin. He wished to build a town for men like him, who would never be accepted as white but refused to be treated like Negroes. A third place.

Generations later, no matter how “creamy” their skin is or how “wavy” their hair, the twins are no more invincible to racism. Even at sixteen when they decide to run away to New Orleans, race factors into their lives and shapes their opportunities. After a few years, one sister abruptly leaves the other behind when she chooses to pass as a white woman – a decision that forces her to lie to her husband and daughter. Meanwhile, the other sister flees back to Mallard with her ebony skinned daughter who feels like an outcast because of her exceptional darkness. The choices each sister made will alter the course of not only their own lives, but that of their children’s, as well. A summary alone doesn’t prepare you for the journey you’re about to embark.

‘The Vanishing Half’ captured me from the beginning. Spanning four decades, I am in awe of how Bennett seamlessly tells her story from the alternating perspectives of Desiree, Stella, and their daughters. The regret, fear, and heartache that burden the sisters are so poignantly written that they were almost tangible. Bennett writes beautifully about race, family, grief, identity, unconditional love, class, and more without ever being preachy. The detail and delicacy aired in every sentence Brit Bennett writes is breath-taking.

Although I belong to a privileged group, similar to Evaristo in ‘Girl, Woman Other’, Bennett writes with such skill that she brought me closer to something new, something that I can never fully comprehend, but something I can only imagine causes immense heartache and fear. The media and the world around us continue to write the criminalising narrative of black people. Meanwhile, authors like Bennett are erasing their words and encouraging readers to unlearn the underlying racism that still lingers in society. Educating ourselves on universal injustices is paramount and this book truly made me think. This arresting story is wise, deep, compassionate, and any book that exposes realities and truly dares you to reflect is worth everyone’s time.

Overall, ‘The Vanishing Half’ will undoubtably leave a lasting impression on me, and it will leave the same on you, too. This was my first-time reading Bennett, but it won’t be my last. Through masterful storytelling, intriguing psychological insights, and remarkable plot twists, Bennett has created an immersive and unforgettable novel.

I had heard a lot of great things going into this book from readers whose opinion I trust, so I couldn't wait to pick it up. It certainly has a unique premise!

This book is a multi-layered story about identity, race and how we choose to present ourselves to the world and ourselves. It was interesting and thought-provoking and explored these sensitive topics in subtle and original ways, which I very much enjoyed.

For me, The Vanishing Half started slowly and it was only when the focus shifted to Jude and, later, Stella that I was hooked. After that, I couldn't stop turning the pages as the family secrets began to unfold. I started to care about what would happen to these characters and could empathise with the situations in which they found themselves. I would give five stars to those middle sections of the book - I just wish that same emotional impact had been sustained from the first page to the last.

I would certainly recommend The Vanishing Half, especially to those who enjoy books about complicated families (e.g. Celeste Ng's 'Little Fires Everywhere') or as an interesting counterpart to Karin Tanabe's 'The Gilded Years'.

A really unusual thought provoking read, with characters you really believe in and spanning decades across American history. Reading on kindle I was surprised when I came to the end as I could have kept reading for hours more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for allowing me the opportunity to read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

'A body could be labeled but a person couldn't, and the difference between the two depended on that muscle in your chest'

Brit Bennett has written such a thought provoking story. It is full bodied, emotional and revealing.

Racial identity and relationships are at the core of this novel. Intertwined with these core aspects is generations, American history, class, self hatred, identity, prejudice and ultimately - fate.

Brits character development is also superb. Desiree and Stella may be twins and forever connected but their diversity is so apparent due to Brits writing.

This story has a lasting influence and is essential reading. I think this is going to be a much discussed novel of 2020.

4.5 rounded down

I thoroughly enjoyed Brit Bennett’s debut novel The Mothers, so was excited to get an advance copy of The Vanishing Half. And this doesn’t disappoint, in fact it feels like a much more accomplished novel in many ways.

The Vignes twins are born in the small town of Mallard in the 1950s and decide to run away together aged sixteen to New Orleans to escape the oppressive small town environment for bigger and better things. Several years later one sister returns to Mallard with her daughter in tow, the other doesn’t. The sisters lead quite different lives, and both raise daughters who in turn also have very different upbringings and experiences. Then one day, their lives converge once again.

Bennett tackles a lot of themes here - gender identity, race, racism, family and specifically mother/daughter relationships. I expect most readers will have a soft spot for one certain side of the family, but the strength of this story rests in the issues raised in the contrasts between the two Vignes sisters’ lives and the different paths they follow through life, with the associated consequences of their decisions, and also the impact this has on their individual daughters.

Ambitious in scope and spanning a number of decades this story had the potential to get muddled in a lesser author’s hands, but this novel is nothing but a success. I hope to see it on a number of prize longlists later this year and can’t wait to read what Bennett writes next.

Very well written literary drama with interesting and well-developed characters and storyline.
I really enjoyed my time and was hooked on the book all the time.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

I loved this. A nuanced and fascinating book that took us from the 1950s to the 90s, hinging around the lives of twins who leave their small Louisiana town of Mallard to break free from the restrictions imposed there. A black town where light skin is prized, one twin defies convention by marryng a dark man, and the other ends up passing for white. The story goes back and forward in time to explain the lives of their mother and their children, who of course lead vastly different lives. With a light touch, the story obviously talks about privilege and racism, but more generally about identity and opportunity. I couldn't wait to read on and I thoroughly enjoyed every stand of the book.

The Vanishing Half delves into identity - does colour, or sex, define you? Or is that just the given, and you can identify and become whoever you choose?

The book spans 30-40 years - following the lives of two young twins living in Jim Crow southern states, where being black means you can be killed without retribution. And as the title says, one of those twins decides it's time to move on.

Well written, with believable characters and good voices, this is an excellent novel.

Perhaps this book came to me in the wrong moment, in an uncertain time but I failed to get into it at all. I am a huge fan of Brit Bennet, having heard her talk, and praising her debut novel “The Mothers “ever since I read it 3 years ago. I have also recently read Daisy Johnsons “Sisters” which I felt dealt with siblings better. For whatever reason I did not connect and whilst I finished it, I feel cruel to mark or rate it as it would be an injustice. It is worth noting I read this book at a slightly traumatic time in my life so I feel this defiantly a case of me not you as the author is terrific, and I was still able to highlight streams of profound writing.

Original, engaging and impactful. A very unusual storyline that gripped from the beginning. Following the lives of identical twin sister across different race, family and career lines, and then seamlessly onto the next generation.
Not predictable at any stage. Highly recommended, excellent read.