THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett

This is a surprisingly good book, with way more depth and considered thought than I anticipated.  It's all about identity, race, racism, fractured families and what it is that holds us together. I expect that any person of mixed race who reads this will immediately identify with the issues, emotions, attitudes and daily living of being comprised of two halves. Not only race, but also gender/sexuality, a financially privileged upbringing vs a much poorer upbringing. So many issues poured into no more than half a dozen characters. 

The small town of Mallard in Louisiana does not exist, but according to the author is based on a town her mother knew. It is a town that was established and has grown around the idea of light skin - the lighter the better. By the time this story starts  - 1980s, there has been so much intergenerational breeding, that it is possible for people who live there to get away with being white. For identical twins Desiree and Stella this becomes a reality when one night, these 18 year olds decide to run away, knowing that in the wider community they will always be seen as black. They decide to take a chance and see if they can find success in the city. Some years later Desiree, escaping a violent marriage,  returns to Mallard  to live with her widowed mother. She also brings a daughter - Jude - who causes sharp intakes of breath in the town - she is very dark. Meanwhile Stella has disappeared, no one knows where she went, who she is with, what she is doing. Desiree has moved on from her sister's abandonment, totally focused on remaking a life in Mallard, with her distinctly out of place daughter. 

Jude is an extraordinary young girl, who grows into a talented athlete, winning a scholarship to a university in Los Angeles. She meets and falls in love with a fellow student, Reese, a young trans man from Texas. Together they plough the mine field of university, totally secure in their love for each other, complete acceptance from their friends and colleagues. Reese is a wonderful character, determined that he will make the transition from woman to man, with the devoted support of Jude. 

By chance Jude meets Kennedy, spoilt entitled beautiful blonde blue-eyed daughter of the missing Stella. These  two are drawn to each other, although Kennedy has no idea why, Jude of course knowing but not knowing what to do about it. Good things take time, and over the course of the years the two sisters do find each other and there is a reconciliation of sorts. But Stella has spent her entire adult life lying to herself, and to her husband, daughter, friends, associates about who she is and isn't, passing these huge insecurities onto her daughter. It is up to Jude and Kennedy now to keep the ties of family held tight,  allowing Kennedy to break free from the secrets that her mother has kept. 

There is exploration within these characters as to who or what they really are. The dilution through the generations of the colour barrier has created almost a new population group, one that is still finding its place in a country which literally, does operate on a level of people being either black or white. Throw in the gender issues as well in a world where, again you are one or the other - male or female, and the melting pot threatens to boil over.