The Vanishing Half: A Novel

Ten years later, Jude is on a bus bound for college in California. She’s glad to be leaving Mallard. Her mother kept promising to leave but never did. Desiree’s boyfriend, Early, is the closest thing to a father that Jude has ever known, though she still idealizes her real father—conveniently forgetting the number of times she saw him beat her mother. All through her school years, Jude has been tormented by her classmates for her dark skin:

A black dot in the school pictures, a dark speck on the pews at Sunday Mass, a shadow lingering on the riverbank while the other children swam. So black that you could see nothing but her. A fly in milk, contaminating everything (84).

Jude only loves one thing—running. Because she’s won gold medals at track meets, she’s been offered a scholarship at UCLA, and she has no regrets about leaving her family behind.

Back in Mallard, Desiree’s life has settled into a routine. Early stays with her whenever he passes through town. Because of his sharecropper origins and dark skin, Adele never accepts Early as her daughter’s boyfriend. She treats him like a handyman, ordering him to fix whatever needs repair in the house. Desiree fears getting married again and is content to let their relationship remain open-ended: “But Early was easy.