The Vanishing Half Selected for Occidental’s Community Book Program

The Community Book Program supports the mission of Occidental College by creating opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents to experience the joy of reading and learning together. Through thoughtful selection of book titles and innovative and inspiring programs, the program provides an intellectually engaging and rewarding experience for the Oxy community.

The Vanishing Half, which topped The New York Times' bestseller list in 2020, centers on twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in very different worlds, one Black and one white. Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family-from the Deep South to California, and from the 1950s to the 1990s-Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations.

Bennett, who was born and raised in Southern California, earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan. Her 2016 debut novel, The Mothers, was also a New York Times bestseller, and her essays have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.

As part of the yearlong program, The Vanishing Half will be a required text for the incoming Class of 2028. This book ties into themes that will be the focal point of several community-wide events during the 2024-25 academic year, including an in-person conversation on Wednesday, October 16, between Bennett and Occidental Writer-in-Residence and Visiting Assistant Professor of English Chekwube O. Danladi. Additional events will be announced in the coming months.