The Vanishing Half

Author(s): Brit Bennett

Location(s): California, The American South

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): Second half 20th Century

Location

Content

This one is sure to be one of 2020’s best and boldest by the author of The Mothers. Identical twin sisters Stella and Desiree are born in a small Southern community in the 1960s, when they decide to run away from home at 16 and carve out new lives in New Orleans. But as they turn down separate paths, Desiree returns home with her daughter, while Stella conjures a life of secrecy as a black woman passing as white. A tale of family, identity, race, history and perception, Bennett’s next masterpiece is a triumph of character-driven narrative.

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Book Reviews

Lead Review (The Vanishing Half)

Author: tripfiction

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE The novel opens in Mallard, a small town not too far from New Orleans. Essentially a black community, the inhabitants are generally lighter-skinned. Stella and Desiree are identical twins...

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