The Vanishing Half

 Once again I am reminded how incredible a book can be.  I realize that I read in a few limited genres and many of my books are written by a Jewish author and also are of jewish content, either historical or modern day.  There is a comfort in reading a book that feels like home.  The characters are recognizable, the language and inflection flow through you like you are listening to family.  You understand a little of where the characters came from or why they think they way they do.  

This time I read a book that is so out of my usual comfort zone, The Vanishing Half, that at first it was very jarring.  I almost put it down and then I realized that it was just another family and their style of speech, their food choices and clothing ideas.  This was my chance to sneak in and see how other people live and think.  What a fascinating concept.

This book has been getting fabulous reviews.  I heard the author, Brit Bennett, speak about writing this book.  So I really wanted to keep reading.  In the end it is definitely a good read.  It is interesting to see other people view themselves and people of their social, economic and racial and ethnic groups.

This book looks at the prejudices of people who identify differently than other people around them.  It looks not only at black and, so called, white, but also at sexual differences.  People who are comfortable in their own skin and people who are not.  Who you are on the inside vs how you look on the outside.

In the end, this is a wonderful heartfelt story of people caught in a world that is hard to negotiate. It is the younger generation that seems to be learning to trust themselves and their feelings.  It gives you hope that our young people will help bring us all to a better place of getting along with all people and moving our world closer to acceptance of all different kinds of human beings.