Stella, the clever one, would have predicted that the town would be distracted.
Adele Vignes would have heard the floorboards creak.
Even Lou LeBon, closing down the diner, might have seen the twins through the foggy glass panes.
But on Founder’s Day, Lou’s Egg House closed early.
Sal, feeling suddenly spry, rocked to sleep with his wife.
Adele snored through her cups of rum punch, dreaming of dancing with her husband at homecoming.
No one saw the twins sneak out, exactly how they’d intended.
Which should not have been surprising, perhaps.
To Stella, leaving Mallard seemed as fantastical as flying to China.
Technically possible, but that didn’t mean that she could ever imagine herself doing it.
But Desiree had always fantasized about life outside of this little farm town.
She’d never even been to New Orleans, only two hours away.
How hard could leaving be if Farrah, one year older than they, had done it?
Desiree imagined herself escaping into the city and becoming an actress.
“You always say that, Stella said.
“Because it’s always true.”
But it wasn’t, not really.
She didn’t hate Mallard as much as she felt trapped by its smallness.
She barely remembered him now; it scared her a little.
Life before he died seemed like only a story she’d been told.
“If it was true, then you’d do something about it, Stella said.
She was always so practical.
Stella wanted to become a schoolteacher at Mallard High someday.
When she mentioned leaving, Stella never wanted to talk about it.
“We can’t leave Mama, she always said, and chastened, Desiree fell silent.
She’s already lost so much, was the part that never needed to be said.
Excerpted from THE VANISHING HALF By Brit Bennett, 352pp.
Copyright 2020 by Brit Bennett, Reprinted by permission.
Desiree ends an abusive marriage and returns with her daughter to their hometown.
Here, the first chapter of her exceptional new novel.
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