Illustration: Manvir Dobb From the opening page of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, the focus is on the perception of other people. Beginning in a folkloric tone, Bennett describes how in 1968, the small, remote town of Mallard is upended when one of its legendary missing twins returns after a decade’s absence. As Desiree Vignes walks back into the town, the light-skinned African American townsfolk are increasingly intrigued by her black daughter, Jude, who accompanies Desiree. Yet, as Desiree adapts to adult life in Mallard – escaping her abusive husband, reconciling with her mother, and reigniting her relationship with a bounty hunter, Early Jones – a mystery remains as to the whereabouts of her sister, Stella.
Bennett carves an image of their childhood where two inseparable girls could be distinguished by only the most perceptive of eyes. The girls’ upbringing is a tale of woe, defined by the lynching of their father (an incident that they witnessed from a cupboard). Unable to follow their aspirations of attending university, both are forced to work as cleaners for a white family. Desiree and Stella become victims of a system where their skin colour dictates their limitations.
Desiree’s desire to leave is clear. Dissatisfied with her surroundings, she tells all who will listen of her wish to get away. Stella is more subdued, more contemplative, but just as keen to escape as Desiree. However, on arriving in New Orleans, the sisters begin to diverge, following different paths as Stella struggles to adapt to her new life. Then, one day, she is gone. Desiree is left alone with only a note and no hope of seeing her sister again. Her marriage to the drunken Sam ensues, which, despite bringing her the joy of Jude, reduces her to a broken shadow of the girl who left Mallard. Deprived of her ambition and hunger for experience, she returns with the need for security and stability, no matter the tedium that it may bring.
The earnest Early protects her, forming a relationship that is more of an understanding. Unmarried, yet besotted, the two work tirelessly to search for Stella. Despite Early’s expertise, however, they draw a blank, and the mysterious sister continues to evade them. Having established Desiree’s unfortunate, restricted existence, Bennett begins to build her plot like a puzzle, piecing together characters and timeframes to home in on the enigma at the core of her story: Stella.
Through Jude’s experiences at university, the novel begins to edge closer towards this centre. Every character adds new flavour to the novel, each bringing a backstory and personality that is more gripping than the last. As Jude struggles to break into a white-dominated campus, she falls in love with the compassionate Reese, who has run away from their family’s inability to accept them for being transgender. Together they foster a unique bond, built on each other’s secrets and the trust they lay in one another. So sensitive is their plot that it threatens to tear away interest from the central twins.
Yet Stella swoops in to steal the show. Having ‘passed into’ whiteness, she forsakes her family to forge a life of lies. In leaving Desiree, she eloped with her boss, attracted by his kindness but also seizing the opportunity for a better life. Marrying into wealth and having a beautiful daughter, Stella is accepted among her overtly racist white neighbours, who remain unaware of her past. But, as the years begin to pass, her unavoidable deceit begins to catch up with her and forces her apart from her increasingly distrustful daughter, Kennedy.
Through recording the contrasting fates of the Vignes sisters, The Vanishing Half not only questions identity, using the trope of twins to challenge ideas of nature and nurture and racial prejudice, but reflects on family and the ties that bind us across generations. Bennett’s writing flows effortlessly as words weave into a wonderful tapestry. Sentences stand out for their striking clarity; diamonds plucked from Bennett’s mind and crystallised on the page for the reader to stop at and admire. Combined with a cast of compelling characters and a plot that guides them with ease and authority, Bennett’s style creates a remarkable novel that leaves you torn between turning pages at speed and wanting to pause and savour the beauty that they hold.