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The Vanishing Half: A Novel
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Author:
Bennett, Brit
Published:
Penguin Publishing Group 2020
Format:
Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Status:
Checked Out

Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST

“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
“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….” – Entertainment Weekly
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.

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On Shelf
79 copies, 1 person is on the wait list.
Woodbridge Adult Fiction
FIC BENNETT
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Woodbridge Adult Compact Disc
CD BENNETT
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6 copies, 2 people are on the wait list.
Checked Out
1 copy, 11 people are on the wait list.

Subjects

Subjects
Fiction
Literature

More Details

Street Date:
06/02/2020
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780525536970
ASIN:
B07XNG5L99

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Citations

APA Citation (style guide)

Brit Bennett. (2020). The Vanishing Half: A Novel. Penguin Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Brit Bennett. 2020. The Vanishing Half: A Novel. Penguin Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half: A Novel. Penguin Publishing Group, 2020.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Brit Bennett. The Vanishing Half: A Novel. Penguin Publishing Group, 2020.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

Copy Details

LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection10
Woodbridge Town Library00

There are 11 holds on this title.

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Grouped Work ID:
9513efda-dadd-f0d2-a8fa-d799c1621048
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API Extraction Dates

Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Apr 23, 2020 14:51:18
Date Updated:
May 11, 2025 03:55:32
Last Metadata Check:
Jun 16, 2025 17:31:42
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 16, 2025 17:31:42
Last Availability Check:
Jun 16, 2025 17:32:26
Last Availability Change:
Jun 02, 2025 17:14:56
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Jun 18, 2025 22:17:47

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    ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

    NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
    New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
    2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST

    “Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
    “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….” – Entertainment Weekly
    From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.

    The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?
    Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
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    ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

    NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
    New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
    2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST

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    “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….” – Entertainment Weekly
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