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The Vanishing Half
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Women's Fiction
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- The Origins of Our Discontents
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The Mothers
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- Written by: Brit Bennett
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- Unabridged
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It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, 17-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is 21, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance - and the subsequent cover-up - will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth.
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Really enjoyed.
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Publisher's Summary
Number One New York Times Best Seller
One of the New York Times Top 10 Books of the Year
Time Magazine's Number One Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
"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 best-selling 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 16, 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 best-selling debut, The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing pause resister about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
What the critics say
"[Bennett’s] fiction is filled with very simple truths that are extremely wise." (Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal)
"Not to be missed." (Harper’s Bazaar)
"Here, in her sensitive, elegant prose, [Bennett] evokes both the strife of racism, and what it does to a person even if they can evade some of its elements." (Vogue)
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What listeners say about The Vanishing Half
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tasty Sunshine
- 2020-07-23
Couldn't put it down
I absolutely loved this book and all of the praise and 5 star reviews are completely justified. a beautifully told story that captured the personality and motivation of each character.
6 people found this helpful
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- Denise G
- 2020-09-15
Went Out With a Whimper
overall an interesting story with a non-ending. I feel it could have been more. did not live up to its potential.
4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-09-05
Amazing book!
I absolutely loved this book from the first line to the last. I was so sad when it ended, I just wanted the story to continue on and on. The character development was wonderful, the story line gripping, while the words flow like prose! A must read/listen!!
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-12-16
it kind of went on to much about shades of black..
struggled to finish it...had its moments. narration was good. it was just so so. you be the judge!
1 person found this helpful
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- Dr. Harold Brown Exp
- 2020-12-12
Beautiful
The enjoyment of the audiobook is as much about the excellent writing as the delicious performance of the narrator. Shayna Small brings to life the characters with accents, tone, inflection and personality.
1 person found this helpful
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- sierra harris
- 2021-01-11
amazing book on race in America
as a white female Canadian, this book was an amazing insight to the struggles of self identity for POC in the 1950-2000's.
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- Mrs. Christine McMorris
- 2021-01-07
Most over rated book of 2020
This book is very dull. I kept waiting for something to happen. The narrator was fabulous, which is the only good thing about it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-12-15
Excellent book!
I really enjoyed this book. the story and the narrator were excellent!! I highly recommend this book!
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-12-10
Captivating
I was captivated by the characters, not the usual run-of-the-mill story, scenes or characters. Loved it.
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-11-15
Amazing
Amazing story, amazing narrator! The author captures each time period and the characters' internal struggles beautifully.
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- Sheila S
- 2020-06-06
Soap opera material
I was drawn to this book based on its high ratings, but it didn't live up to my expectations. None of the characters were well-developed, the plot was dependent on unlikely coincidences, and the pacing was uneven. I was occasionally engaged but more frequently impatient with the repetitious descriptions.
81 people found this helpful
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- Trudi
- 2020-06-11
Didn’t hit the mark
The characters never felt real to me. Lots of stereotypes. Another reviewer describes the book as soap opera material and that hit the nail on the head for me. There was always something going on but nothing much really happens. There’s no feeling of ending in the book it could just go on and on. I was happy when it ended.
46 people found this helpful
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- Lisa Lewis Ellis
- 2020-06-07
Wonderfully Reminiscent
I enjoyed it as much as I dreaded the story. It’s an all too familiar story of growing up Black in America. I’m a 70’s baby, however, I too crew up in an environment where shade of black had influence. I tested up in a few places recalling my own stories. Oh, I’m dark skin or a chocolate girl. Great read. Truthful and wonderfully reminiscent.
45 people found this helpful
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- E.M.Knight
- 2020-06-13
Interesting...
I enjoyed the book for a couple of reasons, we there were Blacks that chose to pose as white and it was interesting to touch on the internal dialogue holding this kind of secret and how different life can turn out for you as white person vs black. As a mother of twins girls it was fascinating to consider knowing that twins can be so connected and to be torn away from your twin can leave the other feeling incomplete. I hope Ms.Brit will consider creating a movie and develop this concept of light vs dark skinned, choices, internal questions with added historical content. Overall, I was intrigued!
34 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-06-14
Sweet, Sad and totally unbelievable
I loved the story, wondering how it would turn out. I agree with some of the other reviewer’s who said it has a soap opera feel, but at the same time I could feel the characters. Some made me mad, some made me cry and some made me root them on. I would totally recommend this book and if you enjoy a real tear jerker.
33 people found this helpful
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- CJB
- 2020-06-04
Excellent book!!
This is the first audiobook that I could not stop listening to! From beginning to end, it kept me fully engaged. I could not wait to get to the end to see how it ended. The characters were fully developed which made it a very smooth read linking the characters throughout the story. I absolutely LOVED this book and highly recommend it. Fantastic!!!
26 people found this helpful
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- Roxanne Flores
- 2020-06-11
Good book
Not intensely captivating, but kept my attention. No dull moments, each fame giving you information and parts of the pieces of the entire story. Very good description, author has a very good way of making you fall in love with words. I’m more of a thriller type book, but this story was a nice slow pace that kept me entertained. I would recommend this book.
16 people found this helpful
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- Ntolife
- 2020-06-14
Absolutely awesome
Never got bored listening to this gem. Good read for sure. Great narration. Worth the credit.
15 people found this helpful
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- Pamla
- 2020-06-12
Boring
I wanted to love it but it never really hooked me. Disappointed. I found myself not caring about the characters.
15 people found this helpful
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- Damarys Reyes Geronimo
- 2020-06-13
Destiny can be funny
Loved reading this book...destiny can be funny and seeing how these lives intertwine again is a good example
11 people found this helpful
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- C Z H
- 2020-11-08
an exploration of complex identities
the story deals with the depth of identities that are never flat or stereotypical but always complex, intricate and flawed. The characters make choices that are not judged, and are presented as humans simply trying to get on as best as they could. Quite an atypical novel. I was just slightly disappointed at times with the reader's performance for male voices which always ended up sort of husky and subdued.