A “new” book is defined as books read and published in the same year. In a year that has been so far more contemporary (reading-wise) compared to my previous reading years, The Vanishing Half is my 15th new book this year. I kept reading a lot of positive feedback on the back that it didn’t take that much to convince me to buy my own copy. Currently, I am reading Brit Bennett’s second novel, The Vanishing Half. The books I have read so far were all published in the past two years, with Etaf Rum’s A Woman is No Man being the “oldest” in the list. Perhaps to balance the equation or correct the imbalance, I returned to more contemporary works in November. Truth be told, these books have slapped hard which was to be expected considering that they belong to an esteemed group of literary masterpieces. I spent my October reading books listed in the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, books that are essentially considered as classics in the world of literature. Weaving together multiple strands and generations, from Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, The Vanishing Half is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of race, gender, and identity, and the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s desires and expectations.

What will happen when their own daughters’ story lines intersect? Still, although separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. Across the country, the other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything, including their racial identities. The Vignes sisters will always be identical.

Twins, inseparable as children, ultimately choose to live in two different worlds: one black and one white.

The vanishing half goodreads