Book details
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
2020 · Riverhead Books
About the book
In the small town of Mallard, Louisiana, the light-skinned Vignes twins, Desiree and Stella, grow up in a community that prizes fair complexions. At sixteen, they run away to New Orleans, where their lives diverge permanently. Desiree eventually returns to Mallard with her dark-skinned daughter, while Stella disappears into a new identity, passing as white and marrying a man who knows nothing of her past. The narrative follows these sisters and their daughters across several decades, tracking how racial performance and secrets shape their socioeconomic status and family bonds.
Readers who enjoy multi-generational family sagas and historical accounts of American racial identity will find a detailed study of colorism and social mobility here. The book appeals to those interested in the psychological mechanics of Reinvention and the long-term impact of systemic segregation. By the end, the reader understands the physical and emotional costs of abandoning one's heritage to secure a different future. The story provides a specific look at the internal logic of racial passing during the mid-to-late twentieth century.
Details
- Published
- 2020
- Publisher
- Riverhead Books
- ISBN
- 9780525536291
- Language
- EN