Book Club Discussion: The Vanishing Half

[ufcasey]

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so it's time for our monthly book club discussion! This month's book is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. As always, feel free to answer any, all, or none of the questions or just put your general thoughts about the book.


Optional questions (found from the internet):

1. Each sister made different choices hoping to improve their lives or make things easier in some way. But ultimately, who do you believe had an "easier" life? Or does it all shake out pretty evenly when all is said and done?

2. Which romantic couples were the most honest with each other? (Desiree/Early, Stella/Blake, Jude/Reese)

3. Kennedy is born with everything handed to her, Jude with comparatively little. What impact do their relative privileges have on the people they become? How does it affect their relationships with their mothers and their understanding of home? How does it influence the dynamic between them?

4. What does Stella feel she has to lose in California, if she reveals her true identity to her family and her community? When Loretta, a black woman, moves in across the street, what does she represent for Stella? What do Stella’s interactions with Loretta tell us about Stella’s commitment to her new identity?

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who might have read the book:

Vespasia, scm1011, jinkies, isabel, tacokick, scout8, mx27, wanderlustmom, gummybear, Jalapeñomel, BeagleMama, DarcyLongfellow, CrazyLucky, jwright, konapoppy, okla, travella, toepick, wkatie, lemoncupcake, krystee, mags, meowmaps, wildrice, aurora

[meowmaps]

I'm very behind on my library holds so I did not get to this yet.

[CrazyLucky]

I did read this, but it was over a year ago and my memory is terrible! I usually write a review, but in this case I only rated it at 4 stars. Sorry I am no help for the discussion!

[konapoppy]

I read it it in May, but I did not like it. It tried to have everything, which meant it didn’t do much well from my perspective. I skimmed a lot, hoping it would be better. Sorry, wish I had something more constructive to add!

[jinkies]

Sept 29, 2021 14:29:57 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I did read this, but it was over a year ago and my memory is terrible! I usually write a review, but in this case I only rated it at 4 stars. Sorry I am no help for the discussion!

Me too! I will have to find a summary and see if that jogs my memory.

[rootbeerfloat]

I liked this book. I appreciated the interactions between the cousins and how their relationship evolved over time. The only aspect I didn't like was Reese; I get why he was included in a book about identity, but it didn't really fit.

[dontlook]

Sept 29, 2021 13:56:46 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so it's time for our monthly book club discussion! This month's book is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. As always, feel free to answer any, all, or none of the questions or just put your general thoughts about the book.


Optional questions (found from the internet):

1. Each sister made different choices hoping to improve their lives or make things easier in some way. But ultimately, who do you believe had an "easier" life? Or does it all shake out pretty evenly when all is said and done?

2. Which romantic couples were the most honest with each other? (Desiree/Early, Stella/Blake, Jude/Reese)

3. Kennedy is born with everything handed to her, Jude with comparatively little. What impact do their relative privileges have on the people they become? How does it affect their relationships with their mothers and their understanding of home? How does it influence the dynamic between them?

4. What does Stella feel she has to lose in California, if she reveals her true identity to her family and her community? When Loretta, a black woman, moves in across the street, what does she represent for Stella? What do Stella’s interactions with Loretta tell us about Stella’s commitment to her new identity?

I read this and enjoyed it until the end. I’m not sure why it ended they way it did.

2. I don’t remember all of the relationships but as soon as I saw Desiree and Early had a warm feelings. I think he was pretty good to her.

4. I have a lot of thoughts on the relationship between Stella and Loretta that I’m not sure I can articulate. Stella was all in on being white and not being exposed so she was willing to do whatever she needed to do. My general thoughts about Stella is that her life had to be so very exhausting.

[tacokick]

It has been a long time! I think I read it the day it came out.

I felt like neither had a easy life. One must have been worrying about being found out all time and the other had her own problems.

I don’t think anyone was very honest!! The ripples really were felt with the next generation too. I kept wishing someone would have an honest conversation.

I’ve known people in similar situations but they were honest with what they were doing with their spouses rather than hiding it from everyone. That couldn’t have been easy either but at least it was a shared burden.

[tacokick]

Sept 29, 2021 16:18:58 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I liked this book. I appreciated the interactions between the cousins and how their relationship evolved over time. The only aspect I didn't like was Reese; I get why he was included in a book about identity, but it didn't really fit.

I didn’t think it fit either. Reese should have had his own book or short story. It felt like it was written separately and then edited in to me.

[travella]

I found this book to be merely ok, 2*. I thought this book was going to be more about the twin sisters and the differences in their lives because one chose to live as white and the other as African American. I loved that idea for the book and had high expectations for it. However, the book focused mostly on one twin and her child. It lacked any real depth into the racial disparity issue that I was expecting. I wanted more insight into The issues both sisters faced. On top of that there was no real drama driving the storyline and the characters weren't developed well enough for an interesting character driven story so it was slow at the best of times and really lagged other times.

Also, the fact that Jude is in a LGBTQ relationship felt like a last minute add to check another diversity box. It didn't feel genuine IMO.

[minzy]

It’s been quite awhile since I read it so I don’t remember much, but I do remember not liking how it ended, where the twins didn’t reconcile. I’m an identical twin and that irked me. I will always have a bond to my sister, our relationship is not something disposable.

[scout8]

I also read it quite awhile ago and don't remember it well. I just looked on good reads and I gave it a 4 so I guess I liked it. I do remember that I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it didn't stay with me. I finished it and almost immediately couldn't remember much about it. I read it for a book club and there wasn't that much time between finishing and the book club, yet I had to refresh my memory in order to discuss it.

[jwright]

I also read this over a year ago, but I know I really liked it. I wish it had focused more on the two sisters and their differences in their experiences. I was less interested in the daughters. This is being made into a TV show for HBOMax and I'm definitely going to watch.

[ufcasey]

I read this (technically listened to it) in a 24 hour period and really liked it. I thought Stella's life was so sad despite being the only happily married person in the family (out of the sisters and daughters) and the only wealthy one. I was bothered by how Kennedy didn't tell Stella that the grandmother passed away - I think Stella would have wanted to know but maybe she didn't deserve to know. I definitely will be checking out the tv show adaptation.

[mx27]

Sept 29, 2021 20:05:45 GMT -5 travella said:

I found this book to be merely ok, 2*. I thought this book was going to be more about the twin sisters and the differences in their lives because one chose to live as white and the other as African American. I loved that idea for the book and had high expectations for it. However, the book focused mostly on one twin and her child. It lacked any real depth into the racial disparity issue that I was expecting. I wanted more insight into The issues both sisters faced. On top of that there was no real drama driving the storyline and the characters weren't developed well enough for an interesting character driven story so it was slow at the best of times and really lagged other times.

Also, the fact that Jude is in a LGBTQ relationship felt like a last minute add to check another diversity box. It didn't feel genuine IMO.

although I would rate the book a 3, everything else you typed perfectly explains my feelings on the book!  i loved the story in theory, but the execution fell flat for me. 

[aurora]

Ugh, I'm late to the discussion again after getting distracted over the weekend.

I definitely liked the idea of the story and must of of the story itself. I think it raised good questions about race and identity, as well as family. I can't imagine how Desiree and her mother felt for so many years not knowing where Stella was. Stella's life passing as white and all that she abandoned as a result of that choice - it really highlights how complicated identity can feel.

I know that some of the earlier comments talked about how the book tried to do too much, and maybe so, but at the same time the inclusion of Reese and his transition is an example of the complexity of intersectionality that impacts our lives, and I think Bennett treats the subject well. I like that Jude has a positive romantic relationship in contrast to some of the others described in the book (Desiree's first abusive marriage, Stella's persistent hiding of her history from her husband).