What readers think of The Vanishing Half, plus links to write your own review.

Who are you…really? And can you ever escape your past to create a completely different future? When do lies become the truth? These are the central questions that gently guide the characters and plot of this engaging book by Brit Bennett.

Desiree and Stella are identical twins born in Mallard, Louisiana, a town so small it's not on any map. Mallard's population is quite unusual: All are light-skinned (and some are very light-skinned) Blacks. As little girls, Desiree and Stella watch as their father is lynched. They grow up poor, so poor their mother forces them to leave high school and work. Despising this life, the inseparable twins together disappear one night, wanting to leave their suffocating little hometown for the city of New Orleans. Stella successfully passes as white, and one day she seemingly disappears to begin life as the wife of a highly successful white man. A devastated Desiree moves to Washington, D.C. and marries a Black man, who abuses her. While Desiree and Stella spend their lives apart, each has a daughter. When these two very different girls meet and figure out who the other is, the family's lives are upended. Secrets and lies have a way of eventually revealing the truth. The title of the book not only describes what Desiree and Stella feel when they separate, but also how Stella feels when she denies who she is in order to live a life that is grounded on a deception, duplicity, and betrayal.

This intriguing multigenerational story is emotionally complex with a richly imagined storyline that also serves as a brilliant reflection on race, racism, and the essence of our very identity as a human being.

I found Bennett’s The Vanishing Half to read like a classic. A solid, almost old-fashioned story of family and destiny-making away from and in the small towns and big cities of America, woven around the big theme of identity, racial identity, gender identity, in the span of a few decades.
Bennett centers the novel on a pair of identical twin sisters, characters who are hard to tell apart when growing up but whose destinies could not be more different. At sixteen, Stella and Desiree Vignes run away from a tiny black but fair-skinned community, a place so peculiar that it tempts the sisters to try their luck in New Orleans, two hours away from home. A sister, impish and romantically-inclined seems to be the instigator, the other, more calculated and secretive surprises with her plan and all the decisions she makes thereafter. While Desiree returns a decade later from D.C. with a black daughter to spend the rest of her life in her place of origin, Stella travels as far as Boston and then Los Angeles, while adopting the identity of privilege and front doors, a white wife to a white husband who does not fathom her tribulations that have to do with lying, belonging and identity.
The sisters’ stories, organized in five “parts”, go back and forth between the 1990s and the 1950s, weaving the tapestries of their lives as they split and meander independent of each other until newer people in their lives come to interact, ponder on and plod through issues stemming from their past, affecting their present and future.
The clean, delicate touches of physical and psychological portraiture etch memorable characters in the families of the two protagonists so that we get caught in their story and enjoy it whole, including the fitting open ending.

Unsettling is the only word I can use to describe this book. Can a person vanish? To themselves? To their family? Can men vanish from society? the world? Can a person vanish and still be physically present? Can a town vanish? Can a person make themselves vanish – even to their own self? What are the repercussions to vanishing? Can a vanished person reappear? And the last question – not are Blacks racist, but what form does it take?
At first, I thought this book was vaguely boring, then a third of the way in, I found it compelling. When I read the last page, I was disappointed. Few of my questions had been answered. And those answers simply produced other questions.
Books groups will either love or hate this book, but a lively discussion will certainly result. My one complaint is the book doesn’t have a conclusion; it just ends.

Can’t put it down! It’s our book club’s choice this month. Almost finished reading it. Told through multiple perspectives across decades. The characters development was excellent and even though the main focus was on twin sisters and their daughters there are so many side characters.
It’s emotional and thought-provoking. Addresses issues about identity, family and race in a thoughtful manner it’s not harsh, just a genuine perspective.

"The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett is an extraordinary novel that delves deep into the complexities of identity, race, and the choices that shape our lives. With its thought-provoking narrative and beautifully drawn characters, Bennett crafts a compelling and emotional tale that lingers long after the final page.

Set against the backdrop of the United States in the mid-20th century, the story revolves around the lives of the Vignes sisters, Stella and Desiree. Born and raised in a small, predominantly Black community called Mallard, the sisters make a pivotal decision that alters the course of their lives. Stella, the fair-skinned twin, chooses to pass as white, while Desiree embraces her Black heritage.

Bennett skillfully weaves together multiple storylines, spanning decades and generations, to provide a comprehensive exploration of the consequences of the sisters' choices. Through their respective experiences, the author sheds light on the enduring legacy of race and its impact on personal relationships, social dynamics, and individual identity.

The characters in "The Vanishing Half" are vividly realized, each with their own struggles and secrets. Stella and Desiree's distinct paths reveal the stark disparities between the two worlds they inhabit. Stella, living as a white woman, enjoys privilege and opportunity but wrestles with the constant fear of her true identity being discovered. Desiree, on the other hand, faces the challenges of racism and discrimination but remains connected to her roots.

What makes this novel truly remarkable is its exploration of the fluidity of identity. Bennett challenges the notion of fixed racial categories and exposes the arbitrary nature of societal constructs. The narrative demonstrates that identity is not only shaped by race but also by personal choices, family bonds, and the environments we inhabit.

Beyond the themes of identity and race, "The Vanishing Half" also delves into the complexities of relationships, motherhood, and the pursuit of happiness. Bennett masterfully intertwines the lives of her characters, revealing the far-reaching consequences of their actions on future generations.

Bennett's prose is elegant and evocative, carrying a sense of emotional weight throughout the story. Her ability to capture the nuances of human experience and portray the intricacies of relationships is truly commendable. The book's pacing is deliberate, allowing readers to immerse themselves fully in the world she has created and to empathize with the characters' triumphs and tribulations.

In conclusion, "The Vanishing Half" is a remarkable achievement in storytelling. Brit Bennett's exploration of identity, race, and the choices we make is both timely and timeless. With its beautifully crafted characters and thought-provoking themes, this novel is a captivating journey that leaves a lasting impact. It challenges readers to question societal norms, embrace the complexities of identity, and consider the power of the choices that shape our lives.

We all know that our past helps to dictate our future. We can run from our past, turn our backs on people and places from the past, disavow our past in many ways, but still it remains. Everyday of our life stays with us, including the past.

Two girls, twins, take separate and very different paths in life. African American, but very light skinned, one remains black and one chooses to be white. One twin was defiant, one recessive and shy. How different their lives become.

We spend time getting to know these twins as children, how they were raised. Then after they separate, we follow the lives of each adult, comparing and contrasting. This pattern also tracks the offspring, each of their daughters. Both so very different. Until one daughter seeks the truth and finds her cousin.

I found this book to be even better than I expected. Having read Bennett before, I knew how strong her writing was, how well she developed characters and how intricate her plot can get. I think this book is ever better than her debut book, The Mothers. However... similar to her first book, I was disappointed in the ending of this story. If Bennett has a flaw in her writing ability, it is book endings. As with her first book the ending of this book just seemed to fall off, fall flat. It does not leave you wanting more, it leaves you with a loss, a feeling of non completion. The ride through the story was great, nice and smooth, entertaining and comfortable, then it came to a screeching halt, lost in a fog, wavering disbelief, no idea of what path to follow.

In hopes that her story endings will improve, I will not hesitate to pick up another Bennett book. The ride is worth the dubious ending.

I found this story ho-hum. This is a story about twins who take different paths in life. They live in a town called Mallard. Only light colored blacks are welcome. Their choices make them estranged for most of their lives. I didn't like the ending as it seemed like a set up for a sequel. It abruptly ended.