The Vignes twin sisters grow up in a small, conservative town of light-skinned blacks in the American South. Their choices are few, their future predetermined: they must marry an equally light-skinned black man and live decently in poverty. However, the sisters refuse to submit to this fate. Instead of conforming to the dictates of their community, they run away to New Orleans at sixteen – and there their paths diverge. One sister falls in love with a violent dark-skinned man, gives birth to a dark-skinned girl, and returns to her hometown, humiliated by her choice and trapped. 

The other pretends to be white and marries a charming scion of a good family, hiding her past and identity. Yet, the twins' fates remain intertwined, despite the miles and lies that separate them. Their certainties will be overturned by the next generation, their daughters, and they will once again be forced to choose: what life do they truly want, what life can they endure?
Following multiple strands and generations of this family, from Louisiana to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett weaves a narrative that is both a compelling, moving family story and a penetrating exploration of racial conflict in America. The Vanishing Half examines and explores the multiple and complex reasons that drive someone to live as another, rather than based on their heritage.