K.J. Charles's Reviews > The Vanishing Half

As good as everyone says. A family saga about a pair of light-skinned twins, one of whom decides to pass for white, which sheds extraordinary light on the twin cancers of racism and colorism in US society. Hugely readable, albeit the section on Stella (the 'passing' twin) trying to force a black family out of her upscale white neighbourhood is almost unbearable. Really strong on the ultimately destructive consequences of living the racist lie--not just Stella's specific lie but the whole edifice of colorism that cuts off so much humanity in as well as from the racist.