[2] The Vanishing Half is a multi-generational family saga set from the 1940s–1990s and centers on identical twin sisters Desiree and Estelle "Stella" Vignes and their daughters Jude and Kennedy, respectively.
A formative moment for the twins is when their mother Adele pulls them out of school so they can earn money cleaning a family's home.
Stella begins to pass for white so she can work as a secretary at a marketing firm called Maison Blanche.
Kennedy ends up dropping out of college to pursue a career in acting, and she has a troubled relationship with her mother who she knows is lying about her background.
She falls in love with a transgender man named Reese while in college and eventually gets a job as a caterer to help him save for his transition surgery.
Desiree ends up with a man named Early who is a private investigator and bondsman, and together, they take care of the twins' mom Adele who has dementia.
[4] Jude, who is the daughter of the main character, is bullied for the darker color of her skin in school and is called names such as "Tar Baby" and "Blueskin.
"[5] The townspeople also view Desiree's relationship with Early, who is a dark skinned man, as unfathomable because to them dark-skinned people were undesirable.
In the novel, Sam physically and emotionally abuses Desiree until she eventually runs away with her daughter Jude back to Mallard.
[11] On some occasions, Desiree tries to rationalize the abuse from her husband and attributes it to his frustrations with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the riots that erupted around that time and his desire to have another child.
Stella's decision to pass causes emotional turmoil for her, but it also allows her to escape her hometown where she is virtually stagnant and unable to pursue her dreams.
[17][18] Publishers Weekly wrote, "Bennett renders her characters and their struggles with great compassion, and explores the complicated state of mind that Stella finds herself in while passing as white.
"[20] The Washington Post called The Vanishing Half a "fierce examination of contemporary passing and the price so many pay for a new identity".
[21] The New York Times wrote, "Bennett balances the literary demands of dynamic characterisation with the historical and social realities of her subject matter.
"[22] In a mixed review for The New York Times, Ayana Mathis wrote, "The novel fails to imagine meaningful story lines or compelling links between the young women and their mothers' burdens.
[25][26] Within a month of publication it was reported that HBO had acquired the rights in the "low seven-figures" to develop a limited series with Brit Bennett as executive producer.