The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

In giving a rating to this book, I am solidly in a four out of five star rating, although at the same time I feel like I might be being a little bit harsh. The reasons are two-fold. One is that the book has an unfinished story quality to it, which is there is a sequel or a trilogy to be had, that might excuse the book ending with all the dangling threads left unwoven. The other is that the story is so rich with depth and yet is so lightly told, that I find myself days later still thinking about the themes that it has raised in my head. Desiree and Stella are identical twins born in a predominantly black town in Louisiana where very pale skin is highly valued. It is unthinkable to marry someone with darker skin that you. Such paleness does not save their father, who they see lynched before them by a group of white men while they hunker down hidden in a closet while he is dragged away. They know to fear white fury. They leave home after their mother takes them out of school and puts them to work in a white home. The unattractive man of the house has no trouble helping himself to groping them, and they have to go or risk even more trouble. And so they go their separate ways, Desiree choosing to live as a very black woman and Stella adopting the role of a white woman. It is a rich, absorbing tale well told.