The Vanishing Half

I kept hearing about this book through various networks and was so excited to read it! Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed 😉

A little about the book

The Vignes 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, including their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. Across the country, the other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, although separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined.

A little about the author

Brit Bennett is the author of New York Times bestselling novel The Mothers, a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard Prize for the best first book, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Award. She’s one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 under 35 honorees.

The Vanishing Half book review

What can I say other than it was utterly captivating? I didn’t know what “passing” meant before this book, but found the juxtaposition of Desiree and Stella’s lives to be heartbreaking as they pursued much different journeys yet both suffered from various afflictions. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their backgrounds and found myself wanting to know more and more about the lives they chose to lead.

At first, I thought the book’s name was solely derived from the relationship of the sisters, but then realized that the vanishing half Bennett describes also encompasses gender, marriage, and self identity.

My one (teeny) complaint is that there was so much time spent on the relationship of the daughters (particularly Kennedy). I was craving to learn more about the sisters themselves. I understand the daughters make up the sisters’ stories, but still would have loved more time on just Desiree and Stella. Otherwise, it was definitely my favorite book of 2020 and I’m so happy to hear it won Book Of The Month’s Book of the Year award as well!

Highly recommend: ★ ★ ★ ★

PS: yes, that present on the left says “To: Bre, ❤️: Bre. I mean, you don’t get yourself Christmas gifts?! 🤣