From the bestselling author of The Mothers comes The Vanishing Half, a new novel that debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and is earning author Brit Bennett critical comparisons to literary greats Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. Released on June 2, The Vanishing Half is a rich and layered portrait of family, race, and identity in 20th century America, and one of the buzziest books of the moment.

Desiree and Stella Vignes are identical twins whose lives take very different paths. As Black teenagers living in 1954 Louisiana, they ran away from their small community in search of a future. Now, they’re grown with their own families: Desiree has returned to the small town they’d fled as children with a daughter of her own, while Stella passes as white in a life she’s built with a husband who doesn’t know anything about what she left behind. Kirkus — from which Bennett received a starred review — and Kiley Reid (author of Such a Fun Age) both note the ways in which The Vanishing Half feels “reminiscent” of Toni Morrison’s work, specifically The Bluest Eye.

Just as Morrison explores the construction of race and whiteness through the longing of Pecola — the young Black girl who wishes for blue eyes — Stella chooses whiteness for escapism, survival, and opportunity, and in doing so, asks the reader to think critically about the constructed identities we associate with Blackness or whiteness. The comparisons drawn between Bennett’s work and Morrison’s are not lost on Bennett, who says that Morrison’s influence is an intrinsic part of who she is as a writer: “It’s weird to feel that type of familiarity toward people you don’t know,” explains Bennett. “People who make this art that you not only deeply connect to, but that you feel has mothered you in some way.”

Critics are praising Bennett’s deft exploration of identity and passing, with The Guardian’s Michael Donkor noting that Bennett “brings fresh sensitivity to the trope, and is “influenced... [but] not intimidated” by classic writers like Nella Larsen and Langston Hughes, both of whom addressed passing through their work during the Harlem Renaissance. The Vanishing Half is receiving rave reviews from critics, including The New York Times and NPR who describes it as a “read that will transport you out of your current circumstances, whatever they are.”

Pick up your copy of The Vanishing Half below: