Many good novels (and a lot of bad ones) turn on the idea of separated twins. Stella and Desiree Vignes were raised in the tiny community of Mallard in rural Louisiana. So small that it doesn’t even appear on a map, the community was founded a freed slave in 1848 and over the years this all-Black community has defined itself by each succeeding generation becoming more similar the white slaveowner who fathered the founder. The residents sought out light-skinned mates and denigrated those who married someone darker. The twins, born in mid-century America, could well have been considered white outside of the highly segregated South. The story turns around the fact that after they ran away to New Orleans at sixteen, one of them did decide to pass as white, while the other seemingly sought out the darkest man she could find to marry. Both have daughters, one blond and blue-eyed, the other dark eyed and blue-black in skin color. Stella, living in a gated community in Los Angeles, is the twin living in fear of being found out, while Desiree returns to her birthplace after leaving her abusive husband. When circumstances throw the two daughters into proximity, years of living lives that are not what they seem will come to light. There is a secondary theme of transgender in this thoughtful and thought-provoking book. 343 pp.
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