Summer read: 'The Vanishing Half' by Brit Bennett

Aisha Hamad AlMidfa

The Vanishing Half is an inspiring story about race, class, gender, family, and fate. The novel is a work of fiction that highlights the historical prejudice about race, particularly for African Americans.

Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan. Her work is featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.

The Vanishing Half debuted at the top of the New York Times best-seller list.

The story stems from the identical Vignes twin sisters that decide to choose their own fate by running away at sixteen.

Ten years later, one sister lives in a black community with her black daughter, while the other secretly pass for white, and lives with her white husband and daughter who know nothing about her past.

The story explores the theme of choosing a different destiny than the original, authentic path. It highlights the influence the past can have in shaping the future and the life one chooses to live or to fake.

There is a more profound significance of the reasons one might choose to live differently such choice can be motivated by an understandable desire for privilege, financial stability, and specifically, safety.

“A story of absolute, universal timelessness …For any era, it’s an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it’s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” Said Entertainment Weekly.

“The Vanishing Half is an utterly mesmerising novel. It seduces with its literary flair, surprises with its breath-taking plot twists, delights with its psychological insights, and challenges us to consider the corrupting consequences of racism on different communities and individual lives. I absolutely loved this book.” Said Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize.

“The Vanishing Half does exactly what a great novel is meant to do. It fills you with questions, exposes you to realities you may never have thought of and of course keeps you up into the night reading. The characters in this book are so real, so warm and so very complicated. I loved every part of it, even when it was making me sad or angry. It’s just such a beautiful story.” Said Luan

Goldie.

Aisha is an intern with Gulf Today. She covers the Emirati community, culture, and food.