The Vanishing Half Summary

In the late 1960s, Desiree Vignes returns to her hometown of Mallard, a community obsessed with light skin, after a 14-year absence. She has with her a dark-skinned daughter, Jude. The narrative then delves into Desiree's past, her separation from her twin sister Stella, her abusive marriage and her reasons for returning to Mallard. While there, Desiree reunites with a former lover, Early, who was hired by her husband to find her.

A decade later, the focus shifts to Jude in Los Angeles, where she's attending UCLA on a track scholarship. She begins a relationship with Reese, a trans man, and starts working a second job to help him fund his surgery. A chance encounter with a woman who looks like her aunt Stella shocks her while she's working at a catering gig. The narrative then jumps back to the 60s, detailing Stella's life as a white-passing woman in a predominantly white neighborhood. Her peaceful existence is disrupted when she sees her daughter playing with a black girl, revealing her own deeply ingrained prejudices and the lengths she would go to maintain her facade.

The final part of the narrative weaves together the lives of Jude and Stella's daughter, Kennedy. Jude has not forgotten the woman who looked like Stella, leading her to Kennedy. Meanwhile, Stella is living a lie, teaching at a community college and fretting over Kennedy's decision to pursue acting over education. The truth of Stella's past, her relationship with Desiree, and their shared lineage is revealed to Kennedy. Despite this, Stella continues to deny her past and her connection to Mallard, revealing the deep-seated racial tension and self-hatred at the heart of the narrative. The novel concludes with Stella coming clean about her past to Kennedy and Desiree's comforting embrace, symbolizing forgiveness, acceptance, and the inescapable ties of family.