The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Audiobook, read March 2021

This was another book that I jumped into without any idea what it was about, and I was surprised, intrigued, and in awe of what The Vanishing Half brought to me as a reader. This intergenerational family saga is about race, class, love, family, privilege, gender, and all the huge sweeping strokes of what it takes to be alive. I’m typically critical of books that I feel like are trying to tackle too many issues at once, but what sets The Vanishing Half apart is that it isn’t trying to tackle these issues–it is simply a long and complicated story about being alive, and being alive is full of nuance, choice, and luck.

When people ask me what a book is about, I usually don’t have a straightforward answer for them–I will answer with something like my first paragraph here, existential and vague, because that’s what stays with me about a book: what it made me think and feel and reevaluate. But The Vanishing Half also just has a gripping story: light-skinned black twins from a small Southern town who separate as teenagers and go on to lead complete different lives. Stella passes for white, becoming a wealthy housewife, while Desiree ultimately returns to their small town with her daughter and stays for decades. I suppose what I loved is that the *aboutness* of this book neither overshadows nor is overshadowed by its story; they are equal, different, separate, and entwined. The Vanishing Half is a great book, and it is also a Great Book.