It’s not often that a book renders me speechless. But book lovers, here we have it: a book that moved me SO much that I have struggled to put into words just how much I loved it. Nothing seems “enough” to do it justice. There just aren’t enough superlatives.
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Bennett tells us the story of twins; Stella and Desiree who hail from a tiny town in Louisiana, which is of no bearing, EXCEPT that it is inhabited primarily by those who pride themselves for being light-skinned black people. So light skinned, in fact, that they could pass as being white; something which is of strong consequence in this tale.
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Written in achingly beautiful prose that will undoubtedly win prizes, this astonishing, multilayered, novel is so detailed and exquisitely crafted that it was easy to be totally lost in it for hours at a time. Bennett’s evocative writing style conjures a whole raft of emotions ranging from grief to surprise and she deftly describes to us what happens when your life might unravel because it is based on deceit.
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Bennett bombards us with a number of themes, primarily those to do with identity and reinvention and questioning who you are and the importance of where you’re from. Her effortless storytelling spans almost five whole decades of a family’s existence and through it, she carefully yet critically examines the relationships between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the bond between sisters.
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Bennett tackles some hard hitting and tough scenes and unapologetically lays bare the uncomfortable truth of white privilege, as well as talking of being given “whiteness” as a gift. Yet through this novel she also gives us so much more; it is a story of hope in the face of despair and survival when up against change.
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Mesmerising and captivating, and providing SO MUCH for us to consider and contemplate, The Vanishing Half is crucial reading and I urge everyone to buy it.
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The Vanishing Half centres around Desiree and Stella, biracial twins who leave their town without saying goodbye to anyone. 10 years later, Desiree returns with a child. Stella doesn't. Stella left Desiree while they were away to create a new life. A new life where she is white, not black. She marries a white man who doesn't know that she is also black and they have a child who grows up believing herself to be fully white.

The book takes place between the 1960s and runs through the 1980s. Race and identity are the underlying themes that run through it but also covered are fear, LGBQT issues and childhood trauma. Although the plot moves along well, there is also a good amount of character development too due to the book spanning across two decades. It needs to be read slowly in order to appreciate the beauty and tragedy of the women's lives.

It's a book that will stay with me for a long time. Not just because of current events but because even though part of me could not understand Stella's choices, part of me could. And I wonder if I was in her position during that period of time, would I have done the same thing? In her eyes she had the chance to live a better life and she took it. But it cost her everything. Can you imagine living a lie? A lie that keeps you on edge everytime you meet someone because you are scared it's written all over your face? A lie that you can't share with the person you share a bed with at night because you're scared of losing everything? Those of you who are twins, can you imagine living years and years without knowing where your other half is or if they are even still alive? It's a lot.

I think this book would be a perfect buddy read or book club pick as there is so much to discuss and I only wish I had read it with someone as I needed to unpack it with someone.

I recently read Brit Bennett’s The Mothers and absolutely loved it so I was really excited to read this.

The Vanishing Half starts with the story of twin sisters who disappear from a small town in Louisiana when they are 16. Desiree, the more wilful sister, returns years later with her daughter, Jude, but her sister Stella starts a new life for herself as a white woman.

I love a book with multiple perspectives and I particularly enjoyed the perspectives and timelines of Stella and Desiree’s daughters. The book uses multiple perspectives and multiple time periods in a really interesting way, jumping back and forth between them.

This book is a fascinating exploration of race, and while between the 60s and 90s, much of what it explores is just as relevant today, especially now.

I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read whatever Brit Bennett writes next. One of my new favourite writers for sure.

Just finished this amazing book!
This feels particularly relevant at the moment but this story is relevant always. It tells the story of Desiree and Stella...twins growing up in a small town they are desperate to leave. They manage to escape at 16 and their lives take very different turns.
It’s a brilliant story and the themes are definitely thought provoking. I will be making sure everyone I know reads it!

I devoured The Vanishing Half. A gripping, elegantly-plotted tale about two sisters, who escape their small-town Louisiana upbringing but choose very different paths. Ten years later, Desiree finds herself back in her home town with her black daughter, on the run from a violent husband. Stella, meanwhile, is passing as white, married to a wealthy banker who knows nothing about her background. When their daughters meet in LA in a chance encounter, the story of Stella's disappearance comes to light, and it is through the younger generation that the sisters are given a chance to reconcile. The novel moves through the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, convincingly charting the shifting racial politics of the 20th Century. It's also a hugely enjoyably read, which twists and turns, gradually sharing its secrets. Compassionate and generous, with pain shimmering beneath its surface, THE VANISHING HALF is a deeply felt exploration of identity, race, prejudice and belonging. I loved it - easily one of the best things I've read this year.

Desiree and Stella are twins growing up in a small community in Louisiana. Although they are of negro descent, they are pale skinned to the extent that they could easily be mistaken to be white. Stella is studious and reserved whereas Desiree is quite the opposite and can’t wait to break free from small town life. At the age of 16, Desiree persuades Stella to leave with her and escape to New Orleans. Initially, they settle into a new life together which subsequently falls apart when Stella suddenly leaves her sister and cannot be found. Their two stories diverge from this point as they find their own ways through life. The story explores relationships and racism against the backdrop of the twins lives. Both subjects are treated sensitively and thoughtfully in what is an engaging and compelling narrative.

Fantastic book, such amazing characters.
A story that covers race and how we identify ourselves and see people in society, whatever shape or color that is.
A truly wonderful story of love, loss and finding who we are as a person, and as part of a family.
A must read,
Bennett has done it again, a wonderful writer and storyteller.

✨ This book .... my heart was both bursting and heartbroken at the same time💓💔 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 (swipe for plot 👉🏻) but wow... I just couldn’t put this book down! ✍🏻 Spanning decades and told from the POVs of Desiree and Stella, and then their own daughters; this was one powerful and thought- provoking read, where love, racism and gender identity are at the forefront. 💔 We felt EVERYTHING these girls felt throughout the pages, @britrbennett writing was just FANTASTIC 👏🏻👏🏻⁣
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✨ I was totally captivated by this book and I’m sure you will be too! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣

Rating- 4.25/5 stars.

The twins, Desiree and Stella had vanished from Mallard (a mulatto town) 14 years ago. Now, Desiree is back, not with Stella but with her blue-black daughter Jude. Stella, on the other hand, has decided to play being white for the rest of her life, she has married a white man and has a daughter called Kennedy. But their lives are about to collide in the most unexpected ways which will make each one of them re-think their past decisions and actions seriously, sometimes even grudgingly.

But don’t be fooled by this short description of what can be called a rather long journey that each character goes through in the story. There’s a lot of drama, controversy, intrigue, politics, and romance. Though at the centre of the story is the issue of identity, identity of every kind- gender, racial, sexual, social, and economic. While Desiree and Jude live a tough life in Mallard, the twin sister, Stella and her daughter are living an entirely different life, that of a privileged white. Representation doesn’t end there; we also have a Trans side character who, I felt, was well sketched.

I hadn’t expected Stella to do the things she did which made me angry at her, but on carefully thinking, I found that my anger was probably not justified in many places. I experienced an almost exact opposite emotional shift for Desiree- from anger and dislike to pity and love. But the character I felt the most for was Kennedy, you’ll know why when you read the book. I think the author has done a brilliant job in terms of character formation and development.

This was my first time reading a book by Brit Bennet, I liked her writing and storytelling very much. Looking forward to more such books by her!

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an e-ARC.

I once saw a study that was done on a group of children aged 3-5. The children were from a mix of different nationalities. They gave these children headshots of other children. They asked the children to order the pictures from the most beautiful to the ugliest. They then asked them to put them in order of children who looked like nice, good children to bad and naughty children. Every child placed light-skinned children at the pretty and good ends of the scale, with the children with the darkest skin at the bad and ugly end. I found this so heartbreaking to watch - that even at such a young age, these children had already experienced racial prejudice.

Mallard is a small town populated exclusively by extremely fair-skinned black people. Set in Louisianna in the years from the 1960s to 1980s, the people of Mallard know that despite their fair skin they will never be accepted as white, but definitely believe that they are better than if they were black. They only marry and have children with other fair-skinned black people in hopes of getting lighter and lighter.

This book is a story of twin sisters who run away from the small town they grew up in and eventually go their separate ways. Years later Desiree returns home with her daughter, fleeing her abusive husband. Desiree's daughter is very dark-skinned and spends her childhood being bullied by the people of Mallard for her skin colour.

Desiree's twin sister Stella is living in LA and has 'crossed over'. Meaning that she now lives as a white woman and no one knows the truth about her past. Not her husband and not her daughter.

This was a new type of racism to me and I found it very difficult to read and review. As a white British woman, I grew up in a position of privilege where racism was not something I was aware of as still existing until I reached adulthood. Even then I imagined that racism was almost completely extinct in my lifetime, only resurfacing in isolated incidents in the United States. It has only been in the last decade or so that I have realised the extent of racism still active, How is it possible that in 2020 we still live like this? Racism is still very real today and to be judged for the level of melanin in your skin is insanity. I understand, that I can never understand what it's like to live this way.

The storyline in this book is a family drama, and it's not the most gripping storyline, however, this book reminds me of a lot of Victorian classics, where the story is not really what's important, so much as the message. The Vanishing Half is a good story, but I believe that entertainment is just the vehicle for the true message of highlighting racial injustice first and LGBTQ+ difficulties during this period as a secondary purpose.

Everybody in the small Louisiana town of Mallard has always just called them the twins. That’s what Desiree and Stella Vignes are, just like some inseparable unit. Together they grow up, together they ran away to find a better life. A big dream for two black girls in the middle of the 20th century when segregation is a fact and opportunities for girls are limited. But then, Stella finds a job as a secretary, due to her relatively fair skin, they mistake her for white and with her diligence, she suddenly sees the chance to reinvent herself. After years of playing the role of the white secretary, she is ready to turn the role into her new self, but this requires leaving everything behind, also her twin sister. The girls take different roads, but they can never forget each other completely. It will take years until their paths will cross again and until they will need to ask themselves who they are and who they only pretend to be.

Brit Bennett’s novel covers the time span from the 1950s when the twins are only teenagers until the end of the 20th century when they have grown-up daughters. It is a tale of two young girls who are connected by their looks but quite different in character, girls with hopes and dreams living in a time when chances in life are determined by the skin colour. One of them accepts things as they are, the other decides to make the best for herself of it, but the price she has to pay is high and it is also a price her daughter will have to pay, ignorant of her mother’s story. Beautifully written the author not only follows the fate of the two individuals, but she also mirrors in their fate a society in which some alleged truths are deeply rooted.

When starting reading, you have the impression of being thrown in at the deep end. Somehow, you are in the middle of the story and first need to sort out the characters and circumstances. The author sticks to the backwards and forwards kind of narration which only little by little reveals what happened to the sisters. Just as both of them are ill-informed about the other’s fate, you as a reader, too, have to put the bits and pieces together to make it a complete story. I totally adored that way of gradually revealing what happened to them.

The narrative also quite convincingly shows that you can never just make a decision for your own life, it will always have an impact on other people, too, and even if you imagine having left all behind you and buried it deep inside your head, one day, the truth will come out and you’ll have to explain yourself. Brit Bennett similarly demonstrates how fragile our concepts of race, gender, class and even identity can be. We might easily be misled because quite often we only see what we want to see and prefer looking away over confronting our stereotypical thinking.

A must read drama with strong characters but also a lot of food for thought.

I’ve read so many good books lately that I’m conscious my luck has to eventually run out. But not today... Identity is at the heart of this much anticipated second novel from Brit Barrett, set in Mallard, a fictional town in Louisiana. Mallard was established by Alphonse Decuir in 1848, “for men like him, who would never be accepted as white, but refused to be treated as negroes”. Twins Stella & Desiree Vignes, descendants of Decuir, born in 1938, have “creamy skin, hazel eyes & wavy hair”. However, despite this, they do not escape racism and witness their father being dragged from his home and lynched to death by a gang of white men.

At 16 the twins leave for New Orleans to escape a life of poverty. Its here that Stella “passes over”, by pretending to be white to get a job. I wasn’t familiar with the concept of “passing over” or “passé blanc”, a term originally attributed to Louisiana Creoles of colour who were so light skinned, they could pass as white. Stella contemplates that there’s “nothing to being white except boldness” & starts a new chapter in her life, leaving Desiree behind in New Orleans, to follow her eventual husband to Boston.

As their lives diverge, the twins lead very different lifestyles over the course of 50 years. Stella lives as a wealthy white woman, in Los Angeles, never revealing her past to her husband & daughter. Her life is split between two women, ”each real, each a lie”, never truly feeling either white or black. Desiree, escaping a violent husband, returns to Mallard with her daughter. Apart from the duality of the twins themselves, there are many aspects of identity explored in the book which contains a rich array of drag queens, transsexuals & actors. The lives of the twins two daughters, Jude and Kennedy, also curiously mirrors that of their mothers.

This is a beautifully told family saga of intertwined lives, primarily dealing with racism & racial inequality, but also telling a rich story of family, relationships and how our lives are shaped by our experiences. Do yourself a favour and read this. Thank you to @netgalley & @littlebrownbookgroup for this book in return for my honest review. Thank you also Brit Bennett for this little treasure.

‘She’d always felt like the older sister, even though she only was by a matter of minutes. But maybe in those seven minutes they’d first been apart, they’d each lived a lifetime, setting out on their separate paths. Each discovering who she might be.’

We’re halfway through 2020 and I've already found my favorite book of this year. The Vanishing Half was everything I’d hoped for and more. A unique plot,
full of secrets, complex family relationships and the exploration of important themes such as race and identity. I loved the characters and their storylines, especially those of Jude/Reese and Stella.

Brit Bennett is an amazing storyteller and I can’t wait to read The Mothers and her future work.

The Vanishing Half is probably one of my favourite books of 2020. This book is beautiful, heartbreaking, emotional and full of life, love and humanity. At the core, Brit Bennett writes about family, identity, womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, love, and grief. The Vanishing Half packs punch as it covers themes of race, class, poverty, identity, being transgender and LGBTQ+ and more. Brit Bennett stole my heart with her writing, with her characters and with this book.

The book is about Desiree Vignes and her twin Stella Vignes who grow up in a small black community in a village called Mallard, Louisiana. When the girls reach their teenage years their lives take vastly different trajectories, as Stella abandons her family, her sister, and her identity to become a white woman, a white wife and a white mother. Desiree on the other hand marries a black man, has a black daughter and does not forget her roots in Mallard. The story begins in the 1950s, but jumps across time as we see the girls and their daughters grow up and how their lives differ and yet still intersect in different ways.

The characters in this book were absolutely phenomenal. They were written with such depth, emotion and realness that I was entirely absorbed in every moment, every detail of their story. The story of Jude and Reese was ultimately my favourite aspect of this book. Jude, who is the daughter of Desiree and Reese the boy she meets in California.

I loved Brit Bennett's use of time jumps to frame the different moments and different periods of the history of the twins and their daughters. I loved the different geographical changes that symbolised different moments and events in the lives of the characters. I loved how seamlessly she interwove these jumps in moments, the shifts in character perspectives and narratives and how it all fitted to build a picture of two lives, two histories, but ultimately one family narrative. I loved literally everything about this book.

I often find it difficult to put into words why I love books that speak to me so much, and that fill me with such emotions and thoughts. One thing is clear,The Vanishing Half offers a really powerful exploration of race and race relations as we see how being either black or white can make such a profound difference on two sisters experiences.

I would urge you all to pick up this book because it was beautiful, emotive and covered so many fantastic themes. I received an eARC from Netgalley and Little Brown Book UK in exchange for a review, but I will definitely be purchasing my own physical copy of this book because I adored it so so much.

The Vanishing Half is Brit Bennett’s second novel, after 2016’s The Mothers, her debut. According to Wikipedia, it’s been discussed as being adapted for film, with Kerry Washington attached to produce.

I know I’m old when I do some research for an author and am shocked at their age – Bennett is 30 years old and already written two books, with a third not too far off. I haven’t read The Mothers but it’s on my list after this one.

The story opens in a town called Mallard, somewhere near New Orleans but not on any map. The population there are light coloured black people, who are ginger and blonde and brunette. Trapped somewhere between black and white, not really welcome in the company of either but their own, the townspeople found their own place. This brings with it prejudice of its own, as they are encouraged, and keen to, only marry someone lighter skinned than they are.

I found the foundation of this story fascinating – for me as a white woman especially, I haven’t been exposed to that feeling, that ‘advice’, that racist view that the lighter skinned you are, the better. There was another part to it for me, the idea that even within this town where everyone is united by their skin colour, there were still prejudices and a hierarchy, when the town’s founding line marries a son in the pub business, there are mutterings about money and status. At the end of the book there’s a bit of an acknowledgements section, and Brit Bennett talks about how there are, or were, real life examples of towns like these across America.

The twins at the centre of the story are Desiree and Stella – beautiful girls who may look alike but are different in personalities. They are both united in their quest to get away from the dull place they grew up in, where their futures look like being maids and household staff to rich white people – no matter how light your skin is, black is black and in the 1950s, you are who you are, as the girls soon learn.

Without too much of a spoiler (although this is in the blurb so not too much of a giveaway, I think), the girls run off together, leaving their mother on her own. The story picks up again a few years later, when the rumour mill goes into overdrive as one of the twins returns, child in tow but no father in sight.

I loved this book for the gentle exploration into the difficulty of family. Of feeling blood related but only skin deep (and sometimes, not even that). About being born into the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong people and ultimately spending your whole life searching for that space where you feel truly yourself.

When I first started reading, I actually thought it would be more of a murder mystery as the search for the other twin continued. It’s a bit different than that and has a much wider timespan, getting us almost up to the present day. I loved that as well, actually – a few times in the writing, Brit Bennett announces things that happen in the future, or declares that it’s the last time those characters meet. It felt much more current, somehow, and much more up to date in this way. One of my pet hates in books is too much time keeping the reader guessing – like when that Bad Thing happens, except you don’t find out about it for chapters afterwards and by then you’re so bored of the references it’s not a shock. This doesn’t do that at all – character’s fates are revealed in the next sentence, which is quite relaxing, actually.

The story also encompasses two women with a tentative friendship, trying to find their way in the world against the backdrop of 1980s America. I particularly liked Jude’s sections with ‘the girls’ – the guys who lead ‘boring, standard’ lives during the week and morph into glitzy glamour queens to sing or lipsync on stage at the weekends. These encounters are also tinged with sadness – Barry isn’t able to buy his own make up as he’d draw attention to himself and blow his cover as a teacher, so he picks out what he wants and gives Jude the cash. It’s another insight into a life I haven’t, and am likely to never will, need to experience at first hand. I can’t imagine not being able to buy what you want without being scrutinised, followed and judged. I naively hope that it’s different now, in this age, but I fear it might not be for some.

The Vanishing Half wasn’t what I expected it to be, and it was surprising for that. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, felt their sadnesses and joy with them and actually, wanted to know more about their lives – what did they do next? What are they doing now? A sign of a good book, I think. Keep an eye out for Brit Bennett!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and thanks as always to the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group UK, for the digital ARC.

I picked this book up after the events of this weekend as it seemed like the perfect way to dip my toe into educating myself. Wow what a read. So well written and so interesting! I’ve never read anything by Britt Bennett but this won’t be my last. The story is around two twin sisters and moved back and forth in time and between the twins two different perspectives. The writing is beautiful and I fell in love with the story. I will be recommending it to my book club.

This is a really interesting and unusual exploration of racial and gender identity, and how our perceptions of ourselves and others are influenced by appearance. It begins in the 1950s, where twins Stella and Desiree grow up in Mallard, a Southern American town so small it appears on no map. It is distinctive for the lightness of skin of its inhabitants, who are themselves classified as “coloured” but even so are prejudiced against dark skins. The father of the twins was lynched in front of them when they were children, a brutal reminder of their place in society. As teenagers, they escape to build new lives in the city, but then Stella disappears, breaking all contact with her family, and it emerges that she has been passing as white. Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter, who is so dark-skinned that she suffers endless disapproval and bullying, while Stella marries into a life of wealth and privilege but lives in constant fear of being found out and finds it impossible to fit in. The book raises fundamental questions- why does what we look like matter so much? Does it dictate who we are? Can we only be ourselves with our own tribe? These considerations also apply to our perceptions of gender and sexuality, as Desiree’s daughter moves away to college and befriends transexual Reece and the drag queens at a local club, well-rounded characters who offer acceptance, tolerance and love. None of this makes the book didactic, and the wider story is one of family ties, finding your way in the world and, as the narrative moves into the 1980s, making slow progress into a better future. A great read on so many levels.

With an endorsement from Bernardine Evaristo and a mention on The High Low podcast — the ultimate source of literary recommendations — it would have been wrong of me not to have read ‘The Vanishing Half.’

Stella and Desiree Vignes were born in a small black Louisiana community called Mallard, barely visible on the map. Founded by their ancestor in the mid-nineteenth century, what sets the community of Mallard apart is the fact that everyone who lives there has light skin. He wished to build a town for men like him, who would never be accepted as white but refused to be treated like Negroes. A third place.

Generations later, no matter how “creamy” their skin is or how “wavy” their hair, the twins are no more invincible to racism. Even at sixteen when they decide to run away to New Orleans, race factors into their lives and shapes their opportunities. After a few years, one sister abruptly leaves the other behind when she chooses to pass as a white woman – a decision that forces her to lie to her husband and daughter. Meanwhile, the other sister flees back to Mallard with her ebony skinned daughter who feels like an outcast because of her exceptional darkness. The choices each sister made will alter the course of not only their own lives, but that of their children’s, as well. A summary alone doesn’t prepare you for the journey you’re about to embark.

‘The Vanishing Half’ captured me from the beginning. Spanning four decades, I am in awe of how Bennett seamlessly tells her story from the alternating perspectives of Desiree, Stella, and their daughters. The regret, fear, and heartache that burden the sisters are so poignantly written that they were almost tangible. Bennett writes beautifully about race, family, grief, identity, unconditional love, class, and more without ever being preachy. The detail and delicacy aired in every sentence Brit Bennett writes is breath-taking.

Although I belong to a privileged group, similar to Evaristo in ‘Girl, Woman Other’, Bennett writes with such skill that she brought me closer to something new, something that I can never fully comprehend, but something I can only imagine causes immense heartache and fear. The media and the world around us continue to write the criminalising narrative of black people. Meanwhile, authors like Bennett are erasing their words and encouraging readers to unlearn the underlying racism that still lingers in society. Educating ourselves on universal injustices is paramount and this book truly made me think. This arresting story is wise, deep, compassionate, and any book that exposes realities and truly dares you to reflect is worth everyone’s time.

Overall, ‘The Vanishing Half’ will undoubtably leave a lasting impression on me, and it will leave the same on you, too. This was my first-time reading Bennett, but it won’t be my last. Through masterful storytelling, intriguing psychological insights, and remarkable plot twists, Bennett has created an immersive and unforgettable novel.

This read came at a particularly poignant time for black culture, and helped to raise my awareness of how deeply racism flows through our society. Aside from this, the book was beautifully written and very engaging.

In particular, I felt the dialogue was exceptional, it was very natural and flowed well throughout the book. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters and was satisfied by the ending.

This books touches on many different elements of modern life, but told from a historical perspective - this is something I feel is so important in modern times because the background of some of the most despicable prejudices can be too abstract for the younger generation to understand. This story gives a new and refreshingly honest insight into how far humanity has come in the past fifty years, but also how far we have yet to go.

The fact that this story spans a generation allows the reader to truly escape and when lifting my head and looking at the real world again, I'm sad to say that not enough has changed. I am inspired by this book, and the tragic events happening around the time of release, to do more, be better, listen to the voices of black people, and learn how to use my own voice to foster positive change to the best of my ability.

I had heard a lot of great things going into this book from readers whose opinion I trust, so I couldn't wait to pick it up. It certainly has a unique premise!

This book is a multi-layered story about identity, race and how we choose to present ourselves to the world and ourselves. It was interesting and thought-provoking and explored these sensitive topics in subtle and original ways, which I very much enjoyed.

For me, The Vanishing Half started slowly and it was only when the focus shifted to Jude and, later, Stella that I was hooked. After that, I couldn't stop turning the pages as the family secrets began to unfold. I started to care about what would happen to these characters and could empathise with the situations in which they found themselves. I would give five stars to those middle sections of the book - I just wish that same emotional impact had been sustained from the first page to the last.

I would certainly recommend The Vanishing Half, especially to those who enjoy books about complicated families (e.g. Celeste Ng's 'Little Fires Everywhere') or as an interesting counterpart to Karin Tanabe's 'The Gilded Years'.