Scan barcode
A review by reneedecoskey
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
5.0
I couldn't put this book down. I hugged it when I was finished reading.
Desiree and Stella Vignes are twins growing up in Mallard, a town that only exists in theory, Louisiana. Mallard was founded on the principle of giving light-skinned black people a place to live together in community. Just as white people hold prejudices toward black people, the citizens of Mallard hold prejudice toward dark-skinned black people.
They're growing up in the south in the 1950s/early 1960s. The girls witness their father being attacked and murdered by white men who come to their home and beat him to death.
When the twins are 16, their mother makes them drop out of school to help earn money for the household by helping her clean houses. Stella is sexually assaulted by one of the clients. The girls are miserable. And one night, they vanish. When the town wakes up, they're gone.
They left in the middle of the night and moved to New Orleans. They get their own place. They work. And then one day Stella is gone. Disappeared off on her own.
Some years later, in 1968, Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter, Jude, in tow. They've escaped her abusive husband and she thinks that Mallard will be the place to hide out for a while because she can stay with her mother. She reconnects with an old flame from her teenage years, Early, and goes to work at the local diner. Years go by and she never leaves. She and Early settle into a rhythm, along with her mother and Jude. But Jude is different than the other residents of Mallard. Even amongst the black community, she is seen as "the other" because she is very dark-skinned. They call her a "blueblack." When she gets a chance to leave town, she does, and goes out to California to attend UCLA for college.
It's there that she meets Reese, who will become her boyfriend for the rest of the book. But Reese has a secret about being "other" too, and he tells Jude. He arrived in Los Angeles after shedding his life as "Therese" along the way. He wears a wrap around his chest every day and socks away his money to someday get the surgery he needs to continue his transition. He also takes hormone pills that he gets on the street. No one else knows, and he and Jude form a tight bond as she supports him and loves him.
While in LA, Jude is working a catering job when she meets a charming blonde woman, similar in age to her, and feels some kind of connection to her. The young woman's eyes are nearly violet and when her mother walks into the party, Jude drops a bottle of wine and it stains the floor. The woman who just walked in has her mother's face. It looks like her mother might in a different life. And she knows that this is Stella. Early had been trying to find her for years, but he hadn't been able to. And now, by chance, here she is. Jude is fired from the job for destroying the floor, however, and doesn't get to see any more than that. Years later, she will see the woman with the violet eyes again, starring in a musical with her friend Barry. Jude will get a job at the theater and become friends with this woman, Kennedy Sanders, to find out more about her. And as she does, she learns that her mother's name is Stella.
When Stella left Desiree, she began passing for a white woman. She dated and eventually married her boss. They moved to Los Angeles and had a daughter, Kennedy. No one knows Stella's secret. And in her attempts to keep it, she alienates, ridicules, befriends, and then alienates again, a black family who moves in across the street from her. She keeps their friendship hidden from everyone. She loves having that friend who reminds her of her long-lost sister, but she also has a reputation to uphold. In the end, she drives her her friend away. In her upperclass white neighborhood, her daughter grows up to be an upperclass white girl, drowning in privilege, who knows nothing of her roots. Stella had always told Kennedy and Blake that her family had died when she was younger.
But as Kennedy and Jude get to know each other, the truth comes out. Kennedy isn't sure what to make of it. While she's lived a privileged life growing up, the one thing she never had was access to her mother. Stella had always seemed secretive and closed off and didn't like to talk about her own childhood. Jude, meanwhile, has a great relationship with Desiree. Kennedy envies that.
When Kennedy tells Stella that she knows her secret, Stella breaks down. She knows she's losing her daughter to her secretiveness. She finally makes the decision to go back to Mallard. She doesn't tell anyone and only travels while her husband is away on business. She returns to find Early taking care of her elderly mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Her mother doesn't even bat an eyelash to see her. Adele Vignes just acts as though it's perfectly normal and natural that her long-lost daughter (her other long-lost daughter) has come home. Stella, who ended up finishing her schooling and getting a college degree and going on to teach collegiate mathematics, goes to find Desiree at her place of employment -- Lou's Diner. Same place she'd been working since arriving back in Mallard more than a decade before.
There is anger and tears and then joy and more tears. Stella and Desiree together again. And they enjoy one night together as a family. This is Stella saying goodbye for good. The next morning she wakes up and slips out of the bed she and Desiree shared as children, leaving her sister sleeping there. She sneaks out and Early catches her leaving. He offers her a ride to the train station.
When Adele dies, Stella doesn't go home for the funeral. Kennedy hears the news from Jude, but Kennedy didn't have a relationship with her maternal grandmother. In the end, it is Jude, Reese, Desiree, and Early who attend the funeral.
I'm still wrapping my head around certain parts of the book, such as everything it has to say about duality. About how twin sisters have daughters (who are genetically half-sisters, I believe, as the daughters of twins), one of whom is described as "lily white" and the other as "blueblack." About how their lives differ, even coming from the same roots. About how a parent's decision can have lasting and far-reaching impacts for their children. There's a lot to unpack, especially in the end of the book. It made me sad. I would still recommend the book to everyone. It's compelling and engaging. I flew through it in 4 days (fast for me).
Desiree and Stella Vignes are twins growing up in Mallard, a town that only exists in theory, Louisiana. Mallard was founded on the principle of giving light-skinned black people a place to live together in community. Just as white people hold prejudices toward black people, the citizens of Mallard hold prejudice toward dark-skinned black people.
They're growing up in the south in the 1950s/early 1960s. The girls witness their father being attacked and murdered by white men who come to their home and beat him to death.
When the twins are 16, their mother makes them drop out of school to help earn money for the household by helping her clean houses. Stella is sexually assaulted by one of the clients. The girls are miserable. And one night, they vanish. When the town wakes up, they're gone.
They left in the middle of the night and moved to New Orleans. They get their own place. They work. And then one day Stella is gone. Disappeared off on her own.
Some years later, in 1968, Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter, Jude, in tow. They've escaped her abusive husband and she thinks that Mallard will be the place to hide out for a while because she can stay with her mother. She reconnects with an old flame from her teenage years, Early, and goes to work at the local diner. Years go by and she never leaves. She and Early settle into a rhythm, along with her mother and Jude. But Jude is different than the other residents of Mallard. Even amongst the black community, she is seen as "the other" because she is very dark-skinned. They call her a "blueblack." When she gets a chance to leave town, she does, and goes out to California to attend UCLA for college.
It's there that she meets Reese, who will become her boyfriend for the rest of the book. But Reese has a secret about being "other" too, and he tells Jude. He arrived in Los Angeles after shedding his life as "Therese" along the way. He wears a wrap around his chest every day and socks away his money to someday get the surgery he needs to continue his transition. He also takes hormone pills that he gets on the street. No one else knows, and he and Jude form a tight bond as she supports him and loves him.
While in LA, Jude is working a catering job when she meets a charming blonde woman, similar in age to her, and feels some kind of connection to her. The young woman's eyes are nearly violet and when her mother walks into the party, Jude drops a bottle of wine and it stains the floor. The woman who just walked in has her mother's face. It looks like her mother might in a different life. And she knows that this is Stella. Early had been trying to find her for years, but he hadn't been able to. And now, by chance, here she is. Jude is fired from the job for destroying the floor, however, and doesn't get to see any more than that. Years later, she will see the woman with the violet eyes again, starring in a musical with her friend Barry. Jude will get a job at the theater and become friends with this woman, Kennedy Sanders, to find out more about her. And as she does, she learns that her mother's name is Stella.
When Stella left Desiree, she began passing for a white woman. She dated and eventually married her boss. They moved to Los Angeles and had a daughter, Kennedy. No one knows Stella's secret. And in her attempts to keep it, she alienates, ridicules, befriends, and then alienates again, a black family who moves in across the street from her. She keeps their friendship hidden from everyone. She loves having that friend who reminds her of her long-lost sister, but she also has a reputation to uphold. In the end, she drives her her friend away. In her upperclass white neighborhood, her daughter grows up to be an upperclass white girl, drowning in privilege, who knows nothing of her roots. Stella had always told Kennedy and Blake that her family had died when she was younger.
But as Kennedy and Jude get to know each other, the truth comes out. Kennedy isn't sure what to make of it. While she's lived a privileged life growing up, the one thing she never had was access to her mother. Stella had always seemed secretive and closed off and didn't like to talk about her own childhood. Jude, meanwhile, has a great relationship with Desiree. Kennedy envies that.
When Kennedy tells Stella that she knows her secret, Stella breaks down. She knows she's losing her daughter to her secretiveness. She finally makes the decision to go back to Mallard. She doesn't tell anyone and only travels while her husband is away on business. She returns to find Early taking care of her elderly mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Her mother doesn't even bat an eyelash to see her. Adele Vignes just acts as though it's perfectly normal and natural that her long-lost daughter (her other long-lost daughter) has come home. Stella, who ended up finishing her schooling and getting a college degree and going on to teach collegiate mathematics, goes to find Desiree at her place of employment -- Lou's Diner. Same place she'd been working since arriving back in Mallard more than a decade before.
There is anger and tears and then joy and more tears. Stella and Desiree together again. And they enjoy one night together as a family. This is Stella saying goodbye for good. The next morning she wakes up and slips out of the bed she and Desiree shared as children, leaving her sister sleeping there. She sneaks out and Early catches her leaving. He offers her a ride to the train station.
When Adele dies, Stella doesn't go home for the funeral. Kennedy hears the news from Jude, but Kennedy didn't have a relationship with her maternal grandmother. In the end, it is Jude, Reese, Desiree, and Early who attend the funeral.
I'm still wrapping my head around certain parts of the book, such as everything it has to say about duality. About how twin sisters have daughters (who are genetically half-sisters, I believe, as the daughters of twins), one of whom is described as "lily white" and the other as "blueblack." About how their lives differ, even coming from the same roots. About how a parent's decision can have lasting and far-reaching impacts for their children. There's a lot to unpack, especially in the end of the book. It made me sad. I would still recommend the book to everyone. It's compelling and engaging. I flew through it in 4 days (fast for me).