Arguably, all months should be Black History Month (October). Notable achievements, often against the odds, have often been left out in the telling of our narrative. Black history has been a vanishing half. Brit Bennett picks up on the social and legislative changes from 1950s to 1980s America and tells a family history. But this is a novel of the unexpected.
It is hard to decide if there is a protagonist for a start. The story moves between characters: Desiree, Stella, Kennedy and Jude all take centre stage at different points. There are also many vanishing halves – the twins’ father is murdered and vanishes from their lives; Desiree’s husband disappears from the story; the men are not distinct characters but a ghostly reflection or distortion of the female characters. Even Reese, who is a trans man, is vanishing from one gender into another, is hidden behind Jude’s more tempestuous life. The twins themselves vanish from their hometown. This ‘black’ town of Mallard also vanishes in becoming a town of those who look white, then changing its name. Although maybe it has its name changed for it as a symbolic representation of the loss of black identity, or the self-loathing of blackness that makes pale skin the only path to self-acceptance for some black people. However, the main vanishing half that impacts the storyline is that of twin Stella making the decision alone to ‘live white’ and leave her sister Desiree. This decision to live a different life is the one that the story hangs on and has in its hand all the decisions that later follow.
The twins’ trauma in witnessing the pointless racist murder of their father is part of the catalyst for their later leaving as teenagers, but perhaps more obviously within the narrative, sexual assault and a sense they have so much more they can do with their lives. The painful reality for many in previous generations, not just persons of colour, was of course that ambitions could not be followed if your wage was needed to support your family. The lack of choice is stark here – going from high school stars to maids – but poverty of opportunity is not just a ‘black issue.’ What is the ‘black issue’ is that this lack of opportunity is undoubtedly exacerbated by prejudices as we see that some jobs will not even interview someone of colour in the southern states of America at this point. How can you pull yourself out of the economic pit if you cannot get the work? Because Stella can ‘pass’ for white, and she can see how much easier her life would become if skin colour was no longer the barrier, she decides to live a white life. There are other previous stories of people ‘passing’ in this way, but Bennett treats Stella with a special compassion. Her gentle, rhythmic style makes it hard to see Stella as a villain even though her life is founded on lies. Stella fears being caught out and goes out of her way to embody suburban values. What we see clearly is those values are brittle, superficial, and full of fear.
Desiree returns to Mallard and lives a life in mainly quiet obscurity. Her clever (much is made of the fact Jude has darker skin and cannot be anything other than black) daughter Jude will start again redefining relationship and expectations. Her relationship with Reese can feel like something of an add on, but its tender unquestioning treatment of Reese’s transition is done delicately. The clever construction of the novel interweaves Stella’s gradual acceptance of herself and her blood family, with the second generation learning who they are and what they want.
This is a relatively slow read, so probably best VI Form and up, but worth it for those who wait.
