The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half is the story of two twin sisters who live in a town where everyone is a light-skinned African American. The plot follows these two sisters as they leave the town where they grew up and go off together. Eventually they split, with one sister marrying a dark-skinned black man and the other sister deciding to pass for white and marrying a white man who doesn't know anything about her background.

The book delves into the issue of “passing,” the term used for light-skinned blacks who decide to pretend they are white. (This practice was also dealt with in Philip Roth's novel, The Human Stain.) It's interesting how Stella begins to pass in a gradual way. She needs a job but finds she can't apply for most of the jobs she wants due to the racism of the time and place where she is living. So she applies for a position without mentioning her background and gets it. Little by little she has to live with this lie and little by little she begins to appreciate the advantages, which culminate in her marriage to her wealthy boss.

Meanwhile her sister, Desiree, ends up in an abusive marriage. She has to leave her husband and returns to the town where they were born. Both of the sisters have daughters and those two cousins get to know each other later in the book.

The concept of passing is an interesting topic on its own but what makes Brit Bennett's handling of it even more interesting is that she introduces a transgender man. I suppose she put this character into her story so readers will compare the process of changing from black to white with the process of changing from female to male. It was strange how different my reaction was. I sympathized with the trans man but the woman passing for white seemed to be living a lie, especially when she dealt with other blacks.

I like books that make me think and this one stuck with me for a long time. The characters were well-developed. I sympathized with them which kept me wondering what was going to happen next. This is a fine book, one I would recommend to anyone.