Last week I finished The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett. I can't remember how I heard about it, whether it was from a review I read or the TV programme Between the Covers, hosted by Sara Cox, that's been on recently. Anyway, I ordered it from the library and it was one of those slow burn books, but in a good way. What a writer!

I so enjoyed this novel which is about identical twins and their identities. There's so much in this story, which is set between 1968 and 1986 and starts off in a small town called Mallard which was founded by a man whose "skin was white but would never be accepted as white and refused to be treated as Negroes".

While one of the the twins disappears, without telling her sister, to marry a white man who doesn't know her background, the other twin struggles with her loss of identity through losing her sister, and falls into an abusive relationship. The story follows the contrast in their lives and is a fascinating tale of race, gender and identity.

As soon as I'd finished it, I looked up to see what else she's written - The Mothers. So that's on my reading list.... Any of you got any recommendations?