Somehow, the Vignes twins believed themselves capable of both,” she writes. “You can escape a town but you cannot escape blood. Poignant, without pathologising its characters, Bennett’s story delves into what it means to frame Black women as ambitious and violent in seeking to escape oppression and attain their dreams. It does it in a way that refuses and subverts the commonplace idea that solely frames colourism as opportunism, with fatal consequences. Through the story of twins and the hometown that forms them, the novel interrogates the consequences of colourism, racism and “white passing” in Black communities. This skill is central to her sophomore title, The Vanishing Half. Writing for the New York Times, Parul Seghal describes Bennett as “a remarkably assured writer who mostly sidesteps the potential for melodrama inherent in a form built upon secrecy and revelation”. Her narratives highlight the differences between these women, their multiplicity and their complex interior lives.

Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Īuthor Brit Bennett pulls the lives of Black women from the margins to the centre of her work.

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He moved to California and wrote to us a few times but we were never invited to visit.

When he joined the navy in 1942, the intake officer who filled out his paperwork just automatically looked him and thought he was white so Chauncey didn't bother to correct him and that's how he passed out of our lives and we never saw him again.

PASSING by Nella Larson is a book written in the 1930s about this issue and is still relevant today. None of this was legal but the attitude and the lifestyle still exist there. One was the 'paper bag'test which meant that if your skin was darker than a brown paper bag then you were considered too dark to be a member of their social circle, so you couldn't attend 'their' clubs, their churches, social groups and organizations. New Orleans was famous for the serious skin color issues. It's an academic historical study of the Free people of color and if you look at the old photos they all look very light and often had straight hair. You should read CREOLES: the history and legacy of Louisana's free people of color by Sybil Kein. You should read CREOLES: the history and legacy of Louisana's free people of color by S …more Yes, there were several towns like that in the Louisiana area.

Brooke Stephens Yes, there were several towns like that in the Louisiana area.

Reviews of the vanishing half