As a reader I felt transported in time and place- especially to LA in the 1980s. Not only does Bennett share these lives, she is outstandingly skillful at merging the individual stories with the historical context. In particular it opens a conversation on the complexity of identity and how we all change in ways large and small as we absorb our lives and our lives absorb us. The novel progressively reveals more and more intimacies, including the many layers of each character alongside their relationships. The Vanishing Half offers us this opportunity extravagantly, opening the door wide to share varied lives, very personally. Fiction provides the opportunity for us to empathize with individuals that we otherwise might never meet or even understand.
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