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  • The Vanishing Half

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Brit Bennett
  • Narrated by: Shayna Small
  • Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,418 ratings)

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The Vanishing Half

Written by: Brit Bennett
Narrated by: Shayna Small
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Publisher's Summary

Number one New York Times best seller

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

“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.

©2020 Brit Bennett (P)2020 Penguin Audio

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)

Featured Article: Outstanding Female Authors Everyone Ought to Listen to


Throughout history, women have crafted some of the most incredible and beloved stories in the world. From rising stars to household names, female authors have contributed some of the best works of all time for our listening pleasure. At times, especially in societies where gender roles and expectations were rigidly defined, women would write under pen names to avoid the fact that a woman was behind the work. Discover the best female authors.

What listeners say about The Vanishing Half

Average Customer Ratings
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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.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

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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4 people found this helpful

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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!!

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

underwhelming

Narration was amazing! The storyline was refreshingly different but slow and boring at times. Really impressed with the narrator!

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful tale of 3 generations

What a striking novel with so much life detailed within. A tale of 3 generations of family- and how the world around them changed and changes still.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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!

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

Book Club book for Sept.
This was okay. It's the story of Desiree and Stella, twin sisters in Mallard, Louisiana. The story begins in 1954. The sisters are very fair-skinned. So fair that one decides to leave town and pass as white.

I kept waiting for something bigger to happen. There were enough juicy-seeming storylines and that something bigger could have happened. But nope.

I kept waiting for the characters to become more interesting. They had a good start. But they were never really differentiated enough.

I kept waiting for some consequences to characters' actions. But nope. Nothing.

The book talks a lot-lot about skin colour. White, Mixed, Black. It's mentioned on every page. But it's handled so superficially that it feels like it means nothing. And I am pretty sure that was not the intention of the author. Maybe it's me, and I just need to be hit over the head with the message. But the message I heard was "it doesn't matter what your skin colour is".

The narration was okay, nothing special.

Onto better!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It was a good story..

Hard to get into it at first slow start, but it was a very beautiful story.. really loved it…

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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.

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134 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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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.

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80 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Lisa Lewis
  • 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.

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69 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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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!

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55 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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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.

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44 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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!!!

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34 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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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.

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31 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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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.

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23 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.

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21 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

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16 people found this helpful

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  • EM123
  • 2023-03-11

Exceeded my expectations!

This was my favourite audible book so far, I really enjoyed listening to it! The narration was very well done and the story kept me hooked.

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  • MoreBooksPlease
  • 2022-06-16

Incredible Story and Performance

I absolutely loved this book--so much so that I tried to pace myself so that I didn't finish it too quickly! The narrator does a fantastic job bringing the cast of characters to life, and I won't be able to stop thinking about them for a long time.

The threads that are interwoven, broken, and renewed amongst the characters are breathtaking and surprising. It's all in the title. Just give it a whirl; you won't want to stop listening!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2021-09-07

beautiful story, beautiful telling

Shayna Small deserves a standing ovation for bringing Brit Bennett's creation to life. All of it beautiful. Thank you for such a soft telling of difficult parts of life.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Client d'Amazon
  • 2021-04-05

Light read but relevant

This story highlights so much of what we are learning about but it’s displayed within the storyline.

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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.

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