If you’re from Louisiana, you may have heard the term “passe blanc” thrown around before - a French phrase used to indicate that a black person was “passing” as white. Such is the topic behind Brit Bennett’s sophomore book, The Vanishing Half, a stunningly evocative novel set in a racially charged Louisiana that tells the story of black twin sisters and what happens when one of them decides to live her life as white.
Desiree and Stella Vignes have grown up in Mallard, Louisiana, a black community so small it doesn’t appear on any map; however, that’s not the only thing that makes Mallard special. Founded by the Vignes sisters’ great-great-great grandfather, Mallard is a town made for people who are not quite black, yet not quite white. The light-skinned citizens of Mallard refuse to be treated with disdain like their darker peers, but also would never be accepted as members of the white community, thus they have congregated in Mallard, living in isolation, yet acceptance of each other.
When Desiree and Stella are forced to quit school at the age of sixteen to help their mother by cleaning houses for wealthy white families, they know they need to get out of town and build a life of their own. One night, the sisters light out of Mallard and never look back. They are headed for New Orleans, where their lives will diverge in ways no one can imagine. For it is in New Orleans that Stella decides to “pass” as white, leaving behind her history, heritage, and family. Without a backwards glance, Stella constructs a new life as a white woman, and no one has seen or heard from her since.
The Vanishing Half begins with Desiree returning to the town of Mallard after a decade long absence with a daughter black as night in tow. Eyebrows raise not only because no one has ever seen anyone in Mallard as blue-black as Desiree’s daughter Jude, but also because no one has heard a lick about the Vignes sisters in 10 years. Yet Desiree can’t answer the many questions asked about her twin because Stella has vanished without a trace. Desiree can only speculate about what has happened to her sister, never imagining that Stella has built a new life around hiding in plain sight.
The Vanishing Half is an utterly compelling tale spanning multiple generations of a family coming to terms with who they are and what they mean to each other. There’s Desiree, who accepts but doesn’t understand why her twin has decided to live a life without her. Jude, Desiree’s daughter, who has taken up with a partner who is running from a past of his own. Kennedy, Stella’s daughter, who wishes her mom would just open up to her about her childhood, not knowing she is harboring a devastating secret that would change all of their lives forever. And then there is Stella, hiding from who she really is just for a chance to be treated like everyone else.
I absolutely fell in love with this emotionally-intense book, and quite frankly, I didn’t want it to end. I reveled in Bennett’s beautiful writing and imaginative storytelling, and felt completely invested in this tragic tale. The Vanishing Half paints a convincing portrait of life in a racially segregated America not so far in our past, and shows the lengths people will go to just to gain equal footing. Especially resonant with the current state of affairs in America, The Vanishing Half is a thought-provoking pursuit into personal identity and how it shapes a person’s life. One of the standout novels of 2020, The Vanishing Half is not to be missed.
Availability: Book; Large Print Book; eBook & eAudiobook in cloudLibrary Rating: ***** Stars (I loved it) Reviewer: Brooke, Public Relations Librarian
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AWARDS: LibraryReads Favorites: 2020 GENRE: African American Fiction; Historical Fiction; Literary Fiction THEME: Facing Racism (Whether individual or systemic, racism is a lived experience for the characters in these books.) CHARACTER: Complex; Culturally Diverse STORYLINE: Character-Driven; Own Voices WRITING STYLE: Engaging; Stylistically Complex SUBJECTS: African American Families; African American Women; Family Relationships; Leaving Home; Life Change Events; Mothers & Daughters; Passing; Race Relations; Twin Sisters
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