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Overview
Overview
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. Ten 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.
- Format: Hardcover
- Author: Bennett, Brit
- ISBN: 9780525536291
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 9.30 x 1.20
- Number Of Pages: 352
- Publication Year: 2020
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
82%
4 ★
18%
3 ★
0%
2 ★
0%
1 ★
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11 Ratings
9
9% Would Recommend
1 Recommendations
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The vanishing half
Would RecommendSydney G. - 8 months agoReally enjoyable! The characters are excellent and I love how you really get to step into each of their shoes and try to understand why they made the choices they made.
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Not “just” a novel
Mary M. - 4 years 6 months agoThe more you think about this book the more layers reveal themselves. Beautifully constructed.
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Great book, unique perspectives, easy to read
Courtney H. - 5 years 2 months agoLoved it! Great book with unexpected turns. The writing really gets you into each character's head and their challenging viewpoints. On top of that, it's such an easy read from start to finish.
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Identity is personal
Maureen S. - 5 years 4 months agoInteresting perspective on how color is perceived and what privileges are based on skin color.
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Contemplating race and identity with a riveting story
Deepa N. - 5 years 6 months agoAn extraordinary book about race and identity that I will be thinking about for a long time. As a non-Black POC I think often of how my existence in America today is tied to the struggles of generations of African-Americans. Every Black person descended from enslaved people has white genes, because their Black foremothers were assaulted by the white men who “owned” them. Every human on Earth came from an original African ancestor, and yet we persist with race and caste. This beautifully written and very timely book will make you reflect on these constructs, and our shared humanity. Highly recommended. #springpicks