Peter N. Chletsos

I absolutely loved this book. Bennett penned a novel about black twins growing up in Mallard, Louisiana (a town not even on the map) where most blacks were light skinned. These twins, Desiree and Stella, were light skinned. After a white mob killed their Daddy and brothers, they decided to run away to New Orleans. From there the two girls lives grew apart further as one wanted to pass as white and the other reveled being black. We get to see two totally different lives as each set off and married. One, Desiree, marries a black abusive man and has a daughter, who looked totally like her father, very black and described as black as tar. The other, Stella, passes as white, marries a white man, her boss, and has a spoiled daughter, who is white with blond curly hair. Both lose touch with each other. The story continues with an accounting of the two daughters, who become acquaintances and eventual on and off friends. The strength of this story is the truth and lies of each of the twins. Great read, reminds me of Toni Morrison's "Blue Eyes."