Welcome to the Stay Home Reading Club.
On Monday, December 7 from 6 to 8 PM, you can grab your beverage of choice and tune in for a digital book club and happy hour led by bbatx board member, Alex Perez-Puelles, discussing The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
The meetings will be informal (feel free to be camera on or camera off) and we'll flow in whatever direction the conversation takes us. You must RSVP for free or by donation (keep scrolling) to receive the login link.
— WHAT WE'RE READING: THE VANISHING HALF —
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half is a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern Black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
We recommend borrowing this book from the Austin Public Library, purchasing it from BookWoman Austin, BookPeople Austin or exploring your options at Resistencia. You can also browse this list of independent, Texan book retailers.
— ABOUT THE HOST —
Alex Perez-Puelles: Alex Perez-Puelles (she/her) is a Reproductive Justice advocate who has been in Austin for the past 3 years. When Alex isn't working, she likes to spend her free time serving as a board and committee member to bbatx, as well as organizing events for organizations such as SXSW, Techstars, etc. She has over 5+ years of event planning experience, with a focus on concerts, festivals and conferences.
— HOW TO RSVP —
All events within our Creative Medicine series require an individual RSVP and can be attended for free or by donation. For every event you’re RSVPd to, you’ll receive a pre-event email at least 24 hours in advance, containing relevant links, schedule info and ZOOM meeting invitations.
To donate when you RSVP, name your own ticket price during checkout. If you can’t donate right now (times are swirly! we get it!), but you'd like to support our recovery efforts and the bbatx team, you can:
become a member when we launch our membership program later this year
or donate later. :)
— VIRTUAL ACCESSIBILITY NOTES —
This event will occur on Zoom and requires Wi-Fi to attend. Closed captioning will be provided. A link to the workshop’s virtual room will be sent at least 24 hours in advance. If you need accommodations, you can let us know by emailing thebabes@bossbabes.org.
— MEET THE PRODUCERS —
bbatx is a little nonprofit based in Austin, Texas. We amplify women and nonbinary creatives, small business owners and leaders. We put on conferences, festivals and workshops to share resources and create spaces of personal and professional support across creative industries, entrepreneurship, tech, community leadership and the arts. We’re essentially a multidimensional, multicultural, multi-industry community for people looking to grow. And all are welcome—our programs are attended by 20,000+ community members per year (including you!). Learn more and get involved at bossbabes.org.