The Vanishing Half & The Mothers By Brit Bennett 2 Books Collection Set
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST
“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
“A story of absolute, universal timelessness . . . For any era, it's an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it’s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” – Entertainment Weekly
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, 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. Many 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.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST
“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
“A story of absolute, universal timelessness . . . For any era, it's an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it’s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” – Entertainment Weekly
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, 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. Many 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.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say Brit Bennett’s collection offers a compelling, well-written exploration of race, identity, and family across generations. Many praise her ...
thenextgoodbook.com
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
343 pages
What’s it about?
Identical twins Desiree and Stella grow up in the small Louisiana town of Mallard, which was founded by their great-great-great grandfather Alphonse Decuir. Alphonse was the son of a white land owner and a slave. His dream was to create a community for light skinned negroes who would not be accepted as white, but saw themselves as set apart. "Lightness, like anything inherited at great cost, was a lonely gift. He'd married a mulatto even lighter than himself. She was pregnant with their first child, and he imagined his children's children, lighter still, like a cup of coffee steadily diluted with cream. A more perfect negroe. Each generation lighter than the one before." When Desiree and Stella turn 16 they run away from this small town to New Orleans. Years later, Desiree will return to Mallard with her daughter in tow, but not much has changed. “In Mallard, nobody married dark....Marrying a dark man and dragging his blueblack child all over town was one step too far.” Desiree and Stella make different life choices- as we will soon see. The choices these women make will reverberate in the lives of their respective daughters.
What did it make me think about?
Identity- racial identity, gender identity, and what influence do others have on how we see ourselves and what we become? This novel also made me think about racism, loneliness, consequences, acting versus lying, and so much more. My one wish is that Stella's daughter would have been written as less of a caricature.
Should I read it?
Yes! For some reason I have put this book off and I am so glad book club chose this one. Brit Bennett has written a very thought provoking book that is easy to read. Not to mention her writing, "Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles.
You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.". I will look forward to a good discussion- as there are many ideas to explore in this story.
Quote-
"People thought that being one of a kind made you special. No, it just made you lonely. What was special was belonging with someone else."
If you liked this try-
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
343 pages
What’s it about?
Identical twins Desiree and Stella grow up in the small Louisiana town of Mallard, which was founded by their great-great-great grandfather Alphonse Decuir. Alphonse was the son of a white land owner and a slave. His dream was to create a community for light skinned negroes who would not be accepted as white, but saw themselves as set apart. "Lightness, like anything inherited at great cost, was a lonely gift. He'd married a mulatto even lighter than himself. She was pregnant with their first child, and he imagined his children's children, lighter still, like a cup of coffee steadily diluted with cream. A more perfect negroe. Each generation lighter than the one before." When Desiree and Stella turn 16 they run away from this small town to New Orleans. Years later, Desiree will return to Mallard with her daughter in tow, but not much has changed. “In Mallard, nobody married dark....Marrying a dark man and dragging his blueblack child all over town was one step too far.” Desiree and Stella make different life choices- as we will soon see. The choices these women make will reverberate in the lives of their respective daughters.
What did it make me think about?
Identity- racial identity, gender identity, and what influence do others have on how we see ourselves and what we become? This novel also made me think about racism, loneliness, consequences, acting versus lying, and so much more. My one wish is that Stella's daughter would have been written as less of a caricature.
Should I read it?
Yes! For some reason I have put this book off and I am so glad book club chose this one. Brit Bennett has written a very thought provoking book that is easy to read. Not to mention her writing, "Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles.
You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.". I will look forward to a good discussion- as there are many ideas to explore in this story.
Quote-
"People thought that being one of a kind made you special. No, it just made you lonely. What was special was belonging with someone else."
If you liked this try-
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
I really enjoyed this book after I got through the first 1/3. The beginning was too slow, I couldn't focus. But then things started to turn around and I couldn't stop reading. This is the story of identical twins, Stella and Desiree, who are from a small, southern black community. At the age of 16, they run away together and their lives take very different turns. One girl chooses to pass for white and creates a whole new life for herself across the country. Not even her husband knows the truth. The other girl has moved back home to Mallard, LA with her very dark skin daughter. The sister passing as white also has a daughter and through a series of twists and turns, these 2 generations diverge and connect later on.
I enjoyed reading about all these women. However, one of my favorite characters was Reese. I don't want to give anything away but I loved him. Of course there are many issues in this book-race,class, gender, abuse, self acceptance. While I liked that the story doesn't wrap up neatly with a bow, I thought it was a little sad. I wanted to keep reading about all the characters.
I enjoyed reading about all these women. However, one of my favorite characters was Reese. I don't want to give anything away but I loved him. Of course there are many issues in this book-race,class, gender, abuse, self acceptance. While I liked that the story doesn't wrap up neatly with a bow, I thought it was a little sad. I wanted to keep reading about all the characters.
Enjoyed! Interesting story with well developed characters. 4 stars because it is missing a sort of “wow factor” to push it to 5, but a good book all the same.
If i’m being honest this was read for plot and taken at a very surface level so if you want more critical analysis read other reviews. sometimes you just gotta engage with the art at the depth you feel able to at the time.
If i’m being honest this was read for plot and taken at a very surface level so if you want more critical analysis read other reviews. sometimes you just gotta engage with the art at the depth you feel able to at the time.
Beautifully told story. Multigenerational story with each generation having distinct views on social political issues of times and different experiences. The book opens by focusing on the fair skinned twins Stella and Desiree, and their escape from Mallard at age of 16yo. Bennett moves the timeline in a non-linear manner. Desiree and her daughter Jude are the main points of view we hear from, with a trickle from Stella. I did enjoy the the way race/transgender issues was handled delicately and with a sledgehammer. My only dislike was the ending.
I really loved this book. Brit Bennett's writing if so fresh and her descriptions of certain things and situations are relevant and spot on. I do feel that Bennett left some doors and windows open in the story that I wanted some closure to but I can see her picking these stories up in books she will write later. I loved discussing this book and look forward to sharing it and discussing it with others.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.