Book: The Vanishing Half
Author: Brit Bennett
Publication: June 2nd, 2020
Rating: 4 stars
Synopsis
In the 1950s sixteen-year-old Stella and her twin sister Desiree decide to leave their small Louisiana hometown, Mallard, in search of something bigger and better. Mallard is populated by light-skinned Black people and they seem to be obsessed with having each generation be lighter than the previous one. The twins are both light-skinned enough to pass as white and Stella is the one to seize that chance.
The book begins many years later with the twins being estranged and Desiree returning back to Mallard with her daughter while Stella is living her life as a white housewife with no one knowing her secret. But what happens when years later their daughters' paths cross each other and some secrets are let out of the box?
My thoughts
This is definitely not my preferred genre, but I can't deny that I was completely enthralled by this multi-generational novel. It is told from multiple povs and the character development was simply astounding. Definitely some of the best I've ever come across. There wasn't a single character here that felt even a little bit half-assed or was there simply for representation. I sometimes had trouble following along with some of the jumps in time, but for the most part I didn't have an issue with it.
For me, the hardest parts to read were always when we were inside Stella's mind. She had just so much internalized racism within her and her paranoia was off the charts. I get why she chose the life that she did, but it really makes me think of the trade-off here. Easy life on the outside, but massive problems with coming to terms with your own identity or a more difficult life when it comes to your rights and how the society views you, but at least being able to be open with others and accepting yourself for who you are.
The commentary on colorisim was just mind-blowing and I would definitely recommend this book even if you don't normally read literary fiction.
Some spoilery notes to follow
Jude and Kennedy’s relationship reminded me a little bit of the one between Camino and Yahaira in Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. Especially in the hospital-scene when both girls had clearly accepted that yes, they are cousins and Kennedy waited with Jude for Reese even though she really didn’t have to. Obviously they never got to be as close, since they only found out about each other when they were already adults and they weren’t as closely related as Camino and Yahaira. Also, while the society, at least in bigger cities, was a bit better with integration (Kennedy had a black boyfriend while she lived in New York), it would’ve been a completely different thing to say publicly that the girls were related. That would’ve only invited questions and scrutiny into Kennedy’s life and her mother’s by proxy.
This week, for the first time, I came across the term sundown town and the neighborhood where Stella and her family lived in LA could clearly be described as one. Sure, the Black family moved there since there was no legal reason why they couldn’t but Stella’s part of the book starts with a Homeowners Association meeting where they discuss how they can block the new family from moving in and Stella is one of the most ardent spokesperson there. It was quite jarring and it gave the reader a clear picture of Stella’s headspace right from the get-go. And let’s not forget that they finally made the family move away by being very unwelcoming (except for Stella’s guilt-ridden deceptive niceness) and finally by throwing bricks through their windows and defacing their property.
About Reese’s story..nothing else than this: If you’re not willing to love your child unconditionally no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, then please, for the love of god, do not have children. Simple as that. You want homeless kids and kids battling with suicidal thoughts? Well, there already are and the world really doesn’t need your help to add to that number.
About Jude. It was heartbreaking reading how much psychological damage her dad had caused her with the domestic abuse going on in their home. Firstly, he made Jude feel special because he never raised his hand against her, only against her mother. This combined with the fact that she felt that she was ”less than” because of her dark complexion, made her actually think fondly of her dad in her youth because he felt like the only person in her life who actually loved her. Secondly, she was afraid of men getting angry at her because she had witnessed what angry men were cabable of doing even to the people they claimed to love.
”In the dark you could never be too black. In the dark everyone was the same color.”
”They’re gonna hate me anyway,” Loretta said. ”Might as well hate me in my big home with all of my nice things.”
Comments
Post a Comment