This is Ms. Wilkerson's debut novel. I doubt it will be her last.
And it's a stunner. Well-crafted. Emotional. Full of twists and turns.
The story is told in multiple points of view, spanning decades, and flipping between past and present in a masterful way, that a lesser author would've stumbled to execute.
This was a local book club pick and I'm happy it was. I might not have run across it otherwise.
Ultimately it's a story of love, but hits the more challenging parts of global racial history and cultural food.
Worth the read.
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
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