The Vanishing Half

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The Vanishing Half
The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett).png
Cover of first edition
AuthorBrit Bennett
Audio read byShayna Small[1]
Cover artistLauren Peters-Collaer
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre
PublisherRiverhead Books
Publication date
June 2, 2020
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages352
ISBN978-0-525-53629-1 (hardcover)
OCLC1119471005
813/.6
LC ClassPS3602.E66444 V36 2020

The Vanishing Half is a historical fiction novel by American author Brit Bennett. It is her second novel and was published by Riverhead Books in 2020. The novel debuted at number one on The New York Times fiction best-seller list. HBO acquired the rights to develop a limited series with Bennett as executive producer. The Vanishing Half garnered acclaim from book critics, and Emily Temple of Literary Hub noted that in 2020 the book most frequently listed among the year's best, making 25 lists.[2]

Synopsis[]

The novel is a multi-generational family saga set between the 1940s to the 1990s and centers on identical twin sisters Desiree and Stella Vignes. The two light-skinned black sisters were raised in the fictional town of Mallard, Louisiana, and witness the lynching of their father in the 1940s. In 1954, at the age of 16, the twins run away to New Orleans. However, Stella disappears shortly thereafter.

In 1968, Desiree leaves an abusive marriage and moves away from Washington, D.C. to return to Mallard with her eight-year-old dark-skinned daughter, Jude. Jude grows older and moves to Los Angeles, California through a track scholarship at University of California, Los Angeles. While working part time as a caterer in Beverly Hills, Jude sees a woman who appears to be her mother's doppelgänger. The woman is actually Stella, who has been passing as white.

The novel has a nonlinear narrative structure.[3]

Themes[]

Colorism

Bennett explores the issue of colorism throughout the book. In the novel, an ex-slave named Alphonse Decuir established a town called Mallard for only light-skinned people. This leads to a fixation among the town about lightness coupled by a disgust for dark-skinned people. Jude, who is the daughter of the main character, is bullied for the darker color of her skin in school and is called names such as "Tar Baby" and "Blueskin." The townspeople also view Desiree's relationship with Early, who is a dark skinned man, as unfathomable because to them dark-skinned people were undesirable. Throughout Desiree and Stella's childhood, their mother Adele warns them against dark-skinned men. The books explores the effects of colorism and the lengths people go to in order to be accepted as beautiful or lighter.

Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse is another themes of the book as it manifests in the main character Desiree's struggles with abuse from her darker-skinned husband Sam. In the novel, Sam physically and emotionally abuses Desiree until she eventually runs away with her daughter Jude back to Mallard. On some occasions, Desiree tries to rationalize the abuse from her husband and attributes it to his frustrations with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the riots that erupted around that time and his desire to have another child. It highlights how domestic violence victims often try to rationalize the actions of their abusers and are reluctant to leave them.

Publication history[]

  • 2020, United States, Riverhead Books ISBN 0525536299, Pub date 2 June 2020, first edition hardcover

Reception[]

The novel debuted at number one on The New York Times fiction best-seller list.[4] As of the week ending February 20, 2021, the novel has spent 38 weeks on the list.[5]

At the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, indicated that the novel received a cumulative "Rave" rating based on 38 reviews, with only one "mixed" review.[6] Publishers Weekly wrote, "Bennett renders her characters and their struggles with great compassion, and explores the complicated state of mind that Stella finds herself in while passing as white."[7] In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "The scene in which Stella adopts her white persona is a tour de force of doubling and confusion."[8] The Washington Post called The Vanishing Half a "fierce examination of contemporary passing and the price so many pay for a new identity".[9] The New York Times wrote, "Bennett balances the literary demands of dynamic characterisation with the historical and social realities of her subject matter."[10]

It was selected for the New York Times Book Review's "10 Best Books of 2020" list.[11]

Television adaptation[]

Within a month of publication it was reported that HBO had acquired the rights in the "low seven-figures" to develop a limited series with Brit Bennett as executive producer.[12] In February 2021, it was reported that Aziza Barnes and Jeremy O. Harris will both write and produce the adaptation. Issa Rae was also named as an executive producer. [13]

Awards and honors[]

Year Award Result Ref.
2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction Longlisted [14]
2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction Won [15]
2020 National Book Award for Fiction Longlisted [16]
2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Longlisted [17]
2020 Prix Médicis étranger Shortlisted [18]
2021 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlisted [19]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett". Penguin Random House Audio. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  2. ^ Temple, Emily (2020-12-15). "The Ultimate Best Books of 2020 List". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  3. ^ Hayden, Joanne (June 15, 2020). "The Vanishing Half: Indelible tale of race and 'passing' for white". The Irish Times. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Fiction - Best Sellers". The New York Times. June 21, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Fiction - Best Sellers". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  7. ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett". Publishers Weekly. February 18, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett". Kirkus Reviews. March 15, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Page, Lisa (June 1, 2020). "Brit Bennett's 'The Vanishing Half' is a fierce examination of passing and the price people pay for a new identity". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  10. ^ "11 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 2020-06-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  11. ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2020". The New York Times. 2020-11-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  12. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 29, 2020). "HBO Wins 'The Vanishing Half' Auction In 7-Figure Deal; 17 Bidders Pursued Brit Bennett Bestseller". Deadline. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  13. ^ Walsh, Savannah. "All About The Vanishing Half HBO Series, Based On The Hit Brit Bennett Novel". Elle. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  14. ^ "2021 Winners". Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  15. ^ "Best Books of 2020". Goodreads. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  16. ^ "The 2020 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction". The New Yorker. September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "The Orwell Prizes 2021". The Orwell Prize. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  18. ^ "Prix Médicis : Éric Reinhardt, Camille de Toledo et Hervé Le Tellier dans la deuxième sélection, Emmanuel Carrère n'y figure plus". France Info (in French). 3 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  19. ^ Flood, Alison (2021-04-29). "Women's prize for fiction shortlist entirely first-time nominees". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-04-29.

External links[]

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