Black Cake: A Novel

Black Cake is a beautiful written novel. This story is about Eleanor Bennet’s life. Shortly before her death she left behind a black cake, and the truth about her past for her children. Benny and Byron learned that their mother escaped the island that she lived on as a young girl, and was even a suspect in a case murder at the time as well. It was also brought to their attention that they even have a sibling that was never mentioned before. They ...read more

Brilliant book, also watched on disney+

Amazingly written! The author weaves together multiple character's experiences in a way that feels we're getting authentic views of lives of friends and family. We see how people, and their circumstances lead to complicated choices that impact relationships and future circumstances. I appreciate the cultural references to the Carribean. I liked the exploration of how colonization and immigration impacted food, art and cultural practices throughou...read more

“The beauty of a thing justified its plunder. And nothing was more beautiful than a girl who was fearless.” That’s “The thing about identity. There’s your family history, there’s how you see yourself, and then there’s what others see in you. All these elements factor into your identity, like it or not.” Black Cake is “about the flawed narratives that have always aimed to draw clear boundaries around cultures and people’s identities…that could on...read more

The book was a hard read. If I did not watch the show, I would have found it difficult to follow along with the book. The jumping back and forth was a bit difficult to follow and although the chapters were short, they seemed so endless.