I know. I am late to the party. 🙄 Everyone already read and reviewed this book. But when has that ever stopped me? So here we go…
Desiree and Stella are identical twins, who grow up in a black community, where people generally look white. The twins are close and always stick together. Until they don’t. One day, Stella decides to leave. And it isn’t just Desiree, Stella leaves behind; it is all of her past, her family and her roots. From then on, Stella becomes a white woman, allowing her to get a good job, marry a wealthy husband and acquire a prestigious home on the right sort of address.
Desiree, on the other hand, fully embraces her roots. After a failed marriage she moves back to her home town with her dark daughter, who isn’t at all welcomed in the community, where everyone else looks white.
Apparently, Brit Bennett secured a 7 figure deal for the adaptation into a series. HBO won the rights in tough competition with 16 other bidders. I can easily see why. The Vanishing Half presents itself as an obvious candidate for a proper prime time family drama. And to be honest, this is somewhat surprising, since the novel deals with weighty topics such as passing, transgender identification, racism and domestic violence. However, it doesn’t dwell on the most difficult aspects. Is this wrong? Who says books about weighty topics shouldn’t be entertaining and suitable for a main stream audience? In my view Brit Bennett finds a fine balance between popular appeal and serious writing, which is probably why her novel has gained such traction.
The story follows several generations. I enjoyed the parts focusing on Desiree and Stella the most. One thing puzzled me; whilst identical in appearance, personality wise the twins are like day and night. Having no experience with identical twins, I don’t know whether this is realistic.
I thought the story lost some momentum, when POV changed to Desiree’s daughter, Jude, even if the tension increased, when Stella’s daughter appeared on the scene. We also got to meet Jude’s boyfriend Reese, born as Therese. Perhaps, I am being cynical, but my first thought was that Reese was added to maximize the coveted diversity and inclusivity rating, which seems to be a must these days. The author never dealt seriously with Reese’s issues and although he was a great character, he didn’t add much to the overall storyline.
By now it probably sounds like I had a few niggles with this novel, but honestly these were minor details. The Vanishing Half had me CAPTIVATED from page one and once I started reading, I found it impossible to stop again. I enjoyed that the novel didn’t offer any easy solutions and didn’t judge regarding which twin made the “right” choice. Both twins had their fair share of serious issues to deal with and both had to live with the consequences of their choices; consequences which to some extent spilled over to the next generation.
The Vanishing Half is an amazing story, which highlights issues around identity and what it means to be black or white. Is it primarily a cultural thing? Genetic? I recently read about a white woman pretending to be black, which caused an uproar and I definitely understand why. But if black and white relates to upbringing and culture more than to genetics (the twins in the story were white skinned, but perceived as being black), where do we put the limit?
Title: The Vanishing Half [2020] Author: Brit Bennett Format: Audiobook narrated by Shayna Small Genre: Fiction
Sounds very interesting.
It really was, especially for readers who enjoy character-driven stories. I loved reading about the twins, especially Stella (the one who decides to live her life as a white woman) was such an interesting character.
Sounds pretty interesting. I really hope to get the time to read this. I’ll probably watch the series first though.
I too look forward to the series! But as always, when I’ve enjoyed the book, I’m also a bit worried about them making a mess of it. 🤨
I totally agree. It’s also another reason why I start with the film version first. It makes the book worth reading after that. Especially when you read reviews from people that prove that they are indeed better.
Yes, that makes sense. It seems that people often get disappointed by adaptation of books, they really liked. I guess it’s because we all create our own picture of what the characters are like and sometimes the director has a completely different view. Also, I don’t always like when they change the storyline.
I totally agree with all that you have said. Especially when it comes to changing the storyline I hate it, too. Sometimes, they do manage to make the storyline better when they change it, but it is really rare. I don’t even remember in which film that had occurred.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this one! I’m really keen to give it a try but I’ve been waiting until the hype dies down a bit
I hope you will try it at some point, would love to hear what you think about it!
Great post – the book sounds very readable. I long for all the races to intermarry and everyone will be a lovely shade of coffee! With all the communications in the world now you’d think racism should be a thing of the past.
Thanks! 😀 It really was very readable. I agree, it’s amazing that the concept of racism still exists! Unfortunately, even if things have improved since the novel took place, it seems there is still a long way to go.😒
You aren’t the only one who is late to reading thus! I’m still waiting for it at the library but am looking forward to it. Especially if it will be a series!
Good luck, I could imagine there’s a long wait list for this one at the library! I hope you will enjoy it, when you eventually get it!
I’ve been waiting for months 🤣 but that’s okay because I always have plenty of books to read! and thanks!
Haha, I really hope it can live up to your expectations after all this waiting!!
I totally agree with you about Reese, and I felt the same way as you. Her character wasn’t really explored and she was there for the recent ‘inclusivity’ thing which seemed to be ‘popular’ these days. DOn’t think I’d be able to watch the series though 🙁 Great review, my friend!
Thanks Jee. I obviously don’t object to inclusivity, but it’s better when it feels like a natural part of the story. Oh really, I think I might watch the series, but I’ll perhaps wait and hear what other people think first.
Ha, I do get very tired of that old “diversity and inclusivity rating” thing! It’s being so overdone in fiction at the moment. I find the idea of “passing” fascinating though, and when that story came out about the woman passing for black, I did wonder why we feel that’s so wrong but it’s not wrong for black people to pass as white – seems very like double standards, though I do understand the historical reasoning. I often wonder though if the black/white divide isn’t really simply a subset of the poor/rich, underprivileged/privileged divide. Maybe if we could eliminate economic inequality, we might find that other forms of cultural discrimination disappear along with it…
I know! There was an ongoing theme with drag queens, Hollywood actors and other people who take on a new identity, but Reese still didn’t feel like an integrated character and surely gender identity isn’t something you choose? Anyway, maybe I really am too cynical.
For Jessica Krug, professor in African American history, *being* black may have given her credibility, sympathy and attention, which may seem unfair to black people, since presumably she hasn’t experienced any of the accompanying racism or unfairness. I doubt if you can feel such a strong identity with a race as you can with gender. If you can, should you be allowed to choose your race, like you choose your gender? Genetically, race is a much smaller deal than gender. And where do you put the limit for when you are white or black? People with one black, one white parent would typically be perceived as black. But what about 2%? 5%? 10%? Anyway, I managed to confuse myself many times whilst reading, perhaps it shows how meaningless race is as a big distinguisher. You are probably right about the link to poor/rich divide.
I like the discussion around identity, especially racially, here. It’s a timely subject and one that continues to draw a lot of attention and discussion today. Knowing that HBO will adapt this only solidifies this book’s merit to me too (HBO is king when it comes to television for me hahaha)! Great review though. Thanks for sharing it with us. 😀
I thought the story triggered a lot of thoughts around identity. Hopefully the book can help showing how silly it is to treat people differently based on skin tone or even perceived skin tone. Aha, let’s hope that HBO will live up it’s reputation when it comes to the adaptation of this novel. 😀
Also late! Reading it now and I love it
Glad to hear, hope you will write a review!
Excellent review, Stargazer💜 I’ve got to squeeze this in sometime soon as I have it in audio.
Thanks Jonetta! 😀 I hope you’ll find the time to listen, I think you would enjoy this one!
I really enjoyed this one, too, Stargazer. I think Bennett is a phenomenal writer. I read this and The Mothers back-to-back, and I was stunned by how different the styles were but both books were equally powerful. I can’t wait for her next one. Lovely review! ❤️
That is interesting, I love it when an author can embrace very different styles. Based on The Vanishing Half, I agree Bennett is a great writer and it will be interesting to see what she comes up with in the future. Thanks! 😀