The Vignes sisters, Desiree and Stella, are identical twins who grew up in Mallard, La - a town so small it never made the map. The girls were both born black with extremely fair complexions - like many other people in this town.
At age 16, the girls run away - and their paths diverge soon after. Desiree remains a black woman, and Stella (after successfully experimenting with "racial passing" with everyone believing her to be white) lives as a white woman - not even telling her future family of her true identity.
This is a powerful story of these two sisters and how racial identity forms their lives - as well as a multi-generational story of their own daughters (one black, one who believes to be fully white) when their worlds intersect.
This book is fantastic, and the layering of all these unique (but connected) stories and voices is pretty brilliant. So, yes, if you've seen the book everywhere on #bookstagram but weren't sure if it lives up to the hype - it really does!
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