A historical fiction novel about twin sisters dealing with contemporary problems. They grow up in a town of light skinned Black people until one twin decides to live as a white person.
Desiree and Stella live in Mallard, Louisiana, a fictional town about two hours from New Orleans. They disappear from that small town, move to New Orleans, but soon Stella leaves to live as a white woman. Desiree marries a Black man and raises her daughter alone after leaving her abusive husband.
The novel switches time periods, but is an easy transition. We follow the story of Desiree’s daughter Jude and Stella’s daughter Kennedy. Jude and Kennedy coincidentally meet in LA; Jude is a student at UCLA while Kennedy is acting in a local musical.
The novel shifts between characters and generations which parallels the story of shifting from one color to the another, one sex to another. A good read for book clubs because there’s lots of room for discussion.
“You can escape a town, but you cannot escape blood. Somehow, the Vignes twins believed themselves capable of both.”
― Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
Librarian a la mode 