If you like family sagas, if you like historical fiction, if you like literary fiction, I suggest you read this book. If you don’t like any of those things, maybe read this book anyways because it might change your mind.
Synopsis
The Vanishing Half is the story of twin identical sisters who grow up in a small, entirely black, town. At 16 they run away from home together, and soon find themselves living different lives for the first time ever. One sister has a daughter and ends up back home while the other sister passes as white and has a white husband and daughter who have no idea.
The story follows multiple timelines: the twins’ timeline, and both of their daughter’s stories. The Vanishing Half moves backwards and forwards in time as it considers race, sexuality, LBTQ+, and what it means to be at home.
My thoughts
I found this novel absolutely fantastic. First of all, the writing was excellent, the story was incredibly engaging and interesting. The Vanishing Half was a PLEASURE to read. And secondly, Bennett explores really important themes (such as race and sexuality) in an extraordinarily nuanced and thoughtful manner.
I think it would be good to talk first about the story’s narration, because that was one of the things that made me enjoy it so much. The story, as I mentioned in the synopsis, follows multiple perspectives. This made it really engaging and interesting: it was difficult to get bored reading. Throughout the telling of these perspectives, there was a consistent narrative voice which was gentle and non-judgemental. Factual without being cold. Descriptive without over-emotion.
This kind of narrative voice, paired with the multiple storylines, created the strong sense that fate was guiding the story. It was implied throughout the novel that the events and actions were planned, and irreversible. That decisions could not be undone.
This voice thus helped create a kind of mythological undertone to the novel, which is developed even further by the town the twins grow up in: Mallard.
Mallard was founded by a man who wanted to be less black, and the generations of those who live there are compared to…
“a cup of coffee steadily diluted with cream. A more perfect Negro. Each generation lighter than the one before.”
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
Mallard is a kind of liminal space: an area in between black and white. People there look white, but are still treated like they’re black, and still feel like they’re black.
Although unbelievable, Mallard is apparently based on a town the author’s mother knew of. Mallard feels mythological, unbelievable, it’s existence seems impossible. The strangeness of its balance between black and white makes it seem like a myth. In fact, when other characters hear about it, they can’t believe it’s real either.
The twins, the main characters of the novel, straddle this town.
“Stella became white and Desiree married the darkest man she could find.”
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
They simplify the complexities of their racial identity by embracing one half of it. Stella takes on the persona of a white woman, while Desiree returns home, has love affairs with two black men, and seems to embrace her black culture.
Bennett challenges the idea of race itself with this story. She summarises this idea extremely well herself, in an interview.
“On the one hand, if you can perform whiteness, then what does it mean to be white? … these characters who pass usually end up reinforcing the hierarchies that they are potentially destabilizing.”
Brit Bennett
Of course, I mentioned earlier that the novel also considers sexuality and LGBTQ+ issues, and I thought this topic was touched on incredibly well. The topic didn’t just serve as a plot device or a placation (which I feel happens a lot) but felt like a genuine fact, a part of the story. The narrator maintained the factual, non-judgemental tone, which put the issues into perspective. Rather than trying to dramatize them or “hype them up” the narrator kept them realistic. I found that this simple approach made the theme all the more poignant, and improved the effectiveness of the theme.
I wonder how many of us could benefit from this valuable lesson in writing: simple is better than dramatic.
Favourite or forgettable?
Definite favourite!
If you loved this, read this:
Mothers by Brit Bennett (buy here!)
I don’t know what to do with good white people (an essay) by Brit Bennett (read here!)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (buy here!)
The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin (buy here!)
An American Marriage (buy here!)
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