The Vanishing Half

The Vanishing Half

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.

Title : The Vanishing Half
Edition Language : English
ISBN : null
Format Type :

    The Vanishing Half Reviews

  • Emily May

    That was the problem: you could never love two people the exact same way. Her blessing had been doomed from the beginning, her girls as impossible to please as jealous gods. I can see now why every...

  • Nilufer Ozmekik

    Congrats for its big win as the best historical fiction from Goodreads Choice Awards! At least this time the book I chose is a great winner! 🎈🎉🥂🥳News flash: HBO and Brit Bennett made a 7 f...

  • Kat

    *clears throat* *tries to summon some intellect* in a few sentences: brit bennett's intricate plot lines and ability to weave family dramas that stretch through years is definitely something to be adm...

  • Cindy

    Although the first 1/3 of the book was slow, once we start to see how two generations diverge and they connect later on, I became invested in each person's individual journeys as they grappled with ra...

  • Roxane

    Completely absorbing. Intricate prose. Deep characterization. Bennett exceeded my expectations with her second novel....

  • Chelsea Humphrey

    I'm not sure I have words for how excellent this book turned out to be, but terms such as "breathtaking, poignant, and ultimately hopeful" come to mind. I was constantly reminded of the golden oldie m...

  • Jayme

    3.5 Two Black twins, so “light” they could “pass” for White. And, this story exploring “ PASSING” - a term I was not familiar with. One of the twins will choose to do just that-live life a...

  • karen

    oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best historical fiction 2020! what will happen?THIS HAPPENED:CONGRATULATIONS, WINNER! goodreads choice awards best HISTORICAL FICTION 2020!There were many wa...

  • Emma Giordano

    4.5 Stars...

  • Jessica Woodbury

    3.5 stars. I enjoy Bennett as a writer, but I felt like this book didn't come all the way together. I wanted it to either be a more focused book with half the plot or to really go big and have more ab...