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Charmaine Wilkerson

385 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2022

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Covey and Gibbs, holding hands down by the breakers. Covey and Gibbs, kissing in the hollow of a sea cave. Covey and Gibbs, clinging and probing and whispering promises.

Benny talks. She tells Byron about being bullied in college. She tells him about Steve. [...] They argued. Benny yelled. Steve hit her. Said he was sorry, begged her not to leave.

‘ But the fact was, when you lived a life, under any name, that life became entwined with others’. You left a trail of potential consequences. You were never just you, and you owed it to the people you cared about to remember that. ’

‘ But just when she’d thought that her world was expanding beyond the suffocation of adolescence and into a new environment, she found that the boxes into which she was expected to fit—whether for race, sexual orientation, or politics—seemed to be making her world narrower. ’

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Ballantine Books, 2022

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• Hungry Ghosts

by Charmaine Wilkerson

Reviewed by liberty martin.

Last Christmas, I helped my grandmother make black cake for the first time. This was serious business, an operation that covered my grandma’s living room and kitchen with vat-sized mixing bowls and various ingredients in order to make cakes for family and church members. Charmaine Wilkerson conjures similar scenes in her debut novel Black Cake , in which a deceased Caribbean woman named Eleanor Bennett leaves a black cake and a lengthy audio recording filled with secrets for her adult children, Byron and Benny.

Byron is a successful oceanologist in California who wants to be the perfect immigrant son, a “shining example of the American dream.” His younger sister, Benny, is a wayward queer artist living in New York City who feels estranged from her family. The siblings have not spoken in eight years, and the recording that their mother leaves them challenges everything that they knew about Eleanor and how she raised them. “We had to be perfect to make up for the fact that our family is built on a colossal lie,” Benny laments.

Black Cake is told from multiple perspectives, darting between Eleanor’s younger years in the sixties, Byron and Benny’s upbringing, and the siblings’ lives in the present day. Eleanor’s life story emerges as the most compelling, an illustrious saga that features gamblers, Olympian swimmers, a murder mystery, betrayal, heartbreak, and love. Even when these events become far-fetched, Wilkerson’s dynamic writing and choppy chapters will keep more cynical readers turning the pages to find out what happens next. With Eleanor telling her life’s tale in her own words, the author subverts the assumption that the children of immigrants are the best narrators  of their family’s stories. Benny and Byron begin to empathize with Eleanor outside of their mother–child relationship, realizing that she “had given up parts of herself until most of who she had been was gone.” Wilkerson tenderly depicts both generations reconciling their misunderstandings of each other: “We loved you both so much and held you both in such high regard that it never occurred to us that you might truly doubt it,” Eleanor says in the recording, a bittersweet moment from beyond the grave.

Thus, Eleanor’s black cake recipe—one of the few things from her past that she could pass onto her children—serves as an expected symbol of heritage and how it can be disrupted or transformed by immigration. From Byron’s point of view, Wilkerson writes, “Ma’s cake was a work of art [ … ] the moist, loamy mouthful, the tang of spirits behind the nose. But Bryon had never shared his parents’ emotional attachment to the recipe. Tradition, his ma used to say.”

However, Wilkerson never specifies where this “tradition” is from. Sure, Eleanor Bennett is from the Caribbean, but the Caribbean is an archipelago of islands, each with their own traditions and customs. The missing island name becomes a black hole that renders the emotional weight of identity and diaspora hollow. Whenever Eleanor bakes black cake for her children, she tells them, “This is your heritage.” What kind of heritage does not have a name?

As someone of Jamaican descent, the island in question seems to be Jamaica—both Wilkerson’s island and Jamaica share roughly the same geography and political history, and Wilkerson even mentions the Jamaican parish of Portland. Imbuing Black Cake with the specificity of Jamaica could have enriched the novel’s eventful, multi-generational narrative with compelling questions about race, ethnicity, and immigration. For instance, what are the differences between the Black experiences of Jamaican immigrants and African Americans? What does it mean that Benny and Byron are “an African American family of Caribbean origin”? As the biracial daughter of a Chinese business owner, Eleanor would likely be classed as “brown” while growing up in the anglophone Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s—how did she navigate becoming Black when moving to the UK and the US?

Instead of analyzing the politics about race that are already within the ingredients of the story, Wilkerson limits herself to the rigid ways that mainstream media recognizes anti-Blackness: police brutality, workplace discrimination, and stories that mainly revolve around Black men. Most of Black Cake ’s discussion of racism is concentrated in Byron’s storyline as he contends with prejudice and  racial profiling, culminating  in a protest against police brutality that feels disconnected from the rest of the story. Consequently, Wilkerson’s rendition of life under systemic racist oppression comes across as rehashed rather than insightful: “Bryon wants to believe that this epidemic of mistreatment, this bullying of unarmed black men is just that, an outbreak, though prolonged, that can be brought under control.”

At its best, Black Cake is about the lengths we go to to survive and protect our loved ones and how we carry our family histories, no matter where we go. While they are unconventional and interesting, the characters and storyline of Wilkerson’s debut would feel more perceptive if the author delved into how the meanings of race and class shift across the Atlantic. Overall, Black Cake is an ambitious novel that is enjoyable in its striving toward epic complexity. Still, Wilkerson misses the ripe opportunity to sink her teeth into the sociological complexities that undergird her eventful tale and thus evades the mysteries of identity which consume Black Cake and its characters.

Published on August 23, 2022

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clock This article was published more than  2 years ago

The delectable ‘Black Cake’ considers how history and chance alter a family

Black cake has a complicated history. The dense, rum-soaked, fruit-packed dessert is a Caribbean tradition at Christmas, Easter and weddings. For those no longer living in the islands, it’s also a strong reminder of home. But, as one conflicted character in Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut, “ Black Cake ,” notes, it “was essentially a plum pudding handed down to the Caribbeans by colonizers from a cold country.”

Eleanor Bennett, too, has a complicated history. As the novel begins, she has just died in Southern California, leaving her daughter, Benny, and son, Byron, with an audio recording full of long-buried secrets. The estranged adult siblings are also given a note: “B and B, there’s a small black cake in the freezer for you. I want you to sit down and share the cake when the time is right. You’ll know when.”

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Before Eleanor’s death, Benny and Byron thought they knew who they were. They were Californians, the children of orphaned Caribbean immigrants. Their lives were not perfect — they were subjected to discrimination and racial profiling, even violence. Still, they understood their place in American society. But as they listen to the story of Eleanor’s convoluted life, a journey of discovery unravels their identities, setting in motion a novel about inheritance and the complications of multicultural family legacies.

Wilkerson intersperses the modern-day story, set in 2018, with Eleanor’s history, dating back to the 1960s on a Caribbean island (seemingly inspired by Jamaica). Back then, she was Coventina “Covey” Lyncook, a girl of Black and Chinese parentage, whose life revolves around swimming. After her mother leaves, she’s raised by her Chinese father — a gambler — and the family helper, Pearl. Covey has plans for her life that involve escaping her poverty-stricken community to study in London with her sweetheart, Gibbs Grant. But all that is derailed when she’s betrothed to “ruthless moneylender and occasional murderer” Clarence “Little Man” Henry to settle her father’s gambling debts. Complicating things further, Little Man is killed on their wedding day, forcing Covey to flee the island to avoid being arrested for his murder. From there, she’ll spend years running, hiding and lying, eventually settling in the United States under an assumed name.

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Those years are filled with heartache, but Eleanor takes solace in a single constant: the black cake recipe she memorized as a child. “This is the only thing that I had left when I lost my family,” she tells Benny, tapping a finger on her head. But Byron bristles at Eleanor’s allegiance to a custom with colonial roots. “Why claim the recipes of the exploiters as your own?” he asks.

This penetrating look at a delicacy filled with emotional turmoil but built into the very soul of a community echoes more sweeping issues of identity. Wilkerson is questioning the very essence of tradition that is known to many people of Caribbean heritage. “Is it really Caribbean?” one character asks about black cake. “Cane sugar didn’t even originate in that part of the world. It arrived from Africa, which in turn got it from Asia. So, you tell me, whose cake is it?” Eleanor’s own multicultural background is likewise difficult to tease apart; how to decipher where one thread begins and another ends?

Once Eleanor dies, it falls to her children to make sense of her past. The cake plays a central role in helping the siblings discover their history, reexamine their identities and bring together family members whose existence had been kept secret.

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“Black Cake” is a delectable read. Wilkerson’s scenes unfold as quick-paced vignettes, immersing readers into the minds and environments of the characters. It takes us on a journey that forces us to look at how both chance encounters and historical events, such as the transatlantic slave trade and Windrush migration, alter a family. The effects ripple out for generations, and the novel allows for a full reflection on how one’s self-identity can change in an instant. Wilkerson’s intent is clear: We are left to think about the things we inherit from our ancestors — physical traits, mental and emotional strife, even cultural attachments, like a beloved recipe that has the power to bring us home, if only in our minds.

Keishel Williams is a Trinidadian American book reviewer, arts and culture writer and editor.

By Charmaine Wilkerson

Ballantine Books. 400 pp. $28

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by Charmaine Wilkerson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2022

There is plenty to savor in this ambitious and accomplished debut.

Siblings called together after their mother's death learn that almost everything they know about their Caribbean-born parents is a lie.

On an unnamed island in 1965, a bride throws herself into the ocean after her much older gangster husband drops dead at their wedding reception and is never again seen in her village. (She is, however, a very good swimmer.) In Southern California in 2018, Byron and his sister, Benny, are called to listen to an audio file their mother spent days making for them. Estranged for years, they resist, asking for a copy to take home, but their mother's lawyer (who also seems to be grieving) says their mother was very specific, telling them, "There are things your mother wanted you to hear right away, things you need to know." Are there ever. The threads connecting the alternating sections of the book, "Then" and "Now," are many, and tangled, and somehow just keep getting more complicated as the pages roll by. The complex plotting of this novel, unfurling over decades and continents, and the careful pacing of its reveals, often in very short, almost epigrammatic chapters, are enticing. But the pacing is overly slowed by endless lingering inside the heads of characters recapping, reviewing, and agonizing over their predicaments. You want to be tapping your toe with suspense, not fraying patience. And while the island-born characters introduced in the "Then" part of the book are deliciously larger than life, with outsized talents, shortcomings, and powers of self-reinvention, the backstories and concerns of the "Now" characters feel consciously assembled to touch bases of gender and racial identity, domestic abuse, political consciousness, climate change, etc. Nonetheless, Wilkerson is clearly an author to watch.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-35833-7

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022

LITERARY FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION

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New York Times Bestseller

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

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by Kristin Hannah

IndieBound Bestseller

THE MAN WHO LIVED UNDERGROUND

by Richard Wright ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2021

A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.

A falsely accused Black man goes into hiding in this masterful novella by Wright (1908-1960), finally published in full.

Written in 1941 and '42, between Wright’s classics Native Son  and Black Boy , this short novel concerns Fred Daniels, a modest laborer who’s arrested by police officers and bullied into signing a false confession that he killed the residents of a house near where he was working. In a brief unsupervised moment, he escapes through a manhole and goes into hiding in a sewer. A series of allegorical, surrealistic set pieces ensues as Fred explores the nether reaches of a church, a real estate firm, and a jewelry store. Each stop is an opportunity for Wright to explore themes of hope, greed, and exploitation; the real estate firm, Wright notes, “collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent from poor colored folks.” But Fred’s deepening existential crisis and growing distance from society keep the scenes from feeling like potted commentaries. As he wallpapers his underground warren with cash, mocking and invalidating the currency, he registers a surrealistic but engrossing protest against divisive social norms. The novel, rejected by Wright’s publisher, has only appeared as a substantially truncated short story until now, without the opening setup and with a different ending. Wright's take on racial injustice seems to have unsettled his publisher: A note reveals that an editor found reading about Fred’s treatment by the police “unbearable.” That may explain why Wright, in an essay included here, says its focus on race is “rather muted,” emphasizing broader existential themes. Regardless, as an afterword by Wright’s grandson Malcolm attests, the story now serves as an allegory both of Wright (he moved to France, an “exile beyond the reach of Jim Crow and American bigotry”) and American life. Today, it resonates deeply as a story about race and the struggle to envision a different, better world.

Pub Date: April 20, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-59853-676-8

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Library of America

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021

LITERARY FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

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by Richard Wright

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Review: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Editorial note: I received a copy of Black Cake in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson is an epic story about family, traditions, secrets and forgiveness.

As usual, my TBR is out of control! Can anyone relate? But as much as I want to read as many books as possible each month, some books require more time to spend with. Black Cake is one of those novels, which is of the reasons I selected it as a must-read book club selection for 2022. (For more of my 2022 book club picks, check out my full list here ).

Prior to Black Cake , I read The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan—a exceptional story that focused on motherhood. I took my time reading this one as well. While the novels are very different they share a couple things in common (and yes, one being that both of those are Read With Jenna Book Club selections) but also the writing for the novels are both vivid, insightful and impactful.

The premise for Black Cake is quiet in many ways and also quite fascinating. There’s a bit of a mystery too that will keep you guessing. I’m still thinking about all the different themes in this story.

What’s the Story About

Before she died, Eleanor Bennett left behind two key things for her two adult children, Byron and Benny: the traditional Caribbean black cake made from a family recipe and a voice recording. The cake is not surprising as it’s a big part of their upbringing but the recording is and on that, Eleanor reveals all her secrets.

There’s a murder. An escape. And a long-lost child. This challenges everything the siblings knew about both their parents, and also themselves.

The story is told both in present day California and also in the past as we experience Eleanor’s journey with her.

Family Heritage

Family traditions and cultures are handed down throughout generations. While some traditions do fade over time, the one constant is always food. When you think about your own family heritage, how much of it revolves around food? From baking your Granny’s favorite pie to your dad’s famed meatballs (which came from his father, and his father, etc.), food is the constant that connects generations no matter how much time has passed.

I loved reading about the importance and significance of black cake to the Bennett family. The history to the family in particular is fascinating and also I just want to try some for myself! It made me think about recipes from my family that have been passed down as well (such as the meatballs I just referenced).

The novel presents food as a thread that connects family, which is something I think many people can relate to.

I keep these spoiler-free so I don’t want to reveal Eleanor’s secrets (other than what the publisher shared in the synopsis) but I wanted to touch on the fact that their mother finally shared the truth to her children. Byron and Benny had a wonderful upbringing and their parents put them in a great position to succeed. While Byron is thriving as a successful and famous biologist, Benny has been a bit lost trying to find her footing.

Still, they figured they knew their parents. They are who they are. So it’s quite shocking to realize that their mother held so many secrets—including her real name but most importantly, the fact they have another sister all along.

It’s thought-provoking as it makes you wonder how you would react if everything you thought you knew about your parents, are not exactly a full lie, but there are plenty of secrets that were withhold. How would you react?

Black Cake tackles identity and heritage. It’s also a lesson about growth and moving forward. It’s one of those big, family saga stories that will stick with you and makes you think. Highly recommend it! For book clubs, check out my discussion questions here .

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Black Cake (Review, Recap & Full Summary)

By charmaine wilkerson.

Book review, full book summary and synopsis for Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, an eventful family drama about two siblings whose mother reveals their family history to them in her will.

Black Cake is about two siblings, Benny and Byron, who reunite after their mother has recently passed away. They learn that she has left them an inheritance of a frozen black cake in the fridge and a recording of her telling them the truth about her past and where she comes from.

Black cake is a desert that originates from the Caribbean Islands but relies on influences from other countries as well, resulting in a mixed history that is reflected in the story of this family as well. As Benny and Byron follow her story, they start to learn about the person their mother truly was and they come to understand what their roots are.

(The Full Plot Summary is also available, below)

Full Plot Summary

In Part I , Byron and Benny Bennett are two estranged adult siblings who reunite at their mother lawyer's office for the reading of their mother's will after her death from an illness. Benny has been estranged from the family for six years, since Thanksgiving 2010 when she came out as bisexual to her family. Their father, Bert Bennett , died a few years after that before Benny could reconcile with them. Benny attended the funeral, but didn't say anything to Byron or her mother.

Today, the siblings learn that their mother has left them a black cake (a traditional desert originating from the Caribbean Islands) and a recording which their mother, Eleanor , made prior to her death. The lawyer, Mr. Mitch , also informs them that they have a half-sister.

As they listen to the recording, Eleanor launches into the story of Covey , a girl growing up in the Caribbean in the 1950's. Along with her best friend, Bunny , the two were avid swimmers. Covey's mother Mathilda ran a bakery with the assistance of her mother's helper, Pearl . Covey's father, Lin , was the son of a Chinese immigrant who ran two small shops on the island. However, Lin was also a gambler, a habit that damaged the family's finances and eventually drove Mathilda away.

When Covey turns 16, she meets Gibbs Grant , a surfer, and falls in love with him. The two are inseparable and make plans to leave the islands together someday. Around that time, however, there is a fire that damages one of Lin's shops. Lin's financial troubles prompt him to borrow from "Little Man" Henry , an unsavory loan shark who is rumored to have once killed a woman who rejected him. Eventually, Little Man's attentions turn to Covey, and Lin's indebtedness to him force him to agree to a marriage between Covey and Little Man, which Covey desperately does not want. Gibbs is leaving to go to school in London and tries to convince Covey to sneak away with him, but Covey tells him she'll figure something else out.

When the wedding day arrives, Pearl poisons the top layer of cake (which the couple brings home) and decorates with lilac flowers (which Covey dislikes) to let her know. But during the toasts, Little Man chokes and dies, and Covey disappears. Covey then secretly finds Pearl who gives her some money that her mother had left her and the contact information for a woman Mathilda knew who can help Covey get off the island.

By fall of 1965, Covey is living in London under the name Coventina Brown and working as a nanny, though she later becomes Eleanor Bennett. On the islands, it's assumed that Covey murdered her husband and fled. In the recording, Eleanor mother reaffirms that she is Covey and that the story she'd told them about growing up at an orphanage is a story she borrowed from someone else.

Interspersed with Eleanor's explanation of her past, in present day, Benny reflects upon her life path. In their family, she and Byron were expected to be high-achieving to garner influence and professional opportunities. However, Benny dropped out of her elite university after getting beat up by two (gay) women for being a "traitor" for flirting with a guy. Benny then enrolled in art school and met her ex, Joanie. Joanie later broke up with her and moved to New York, and Benny followed Joanie to New York in hopes of reconciling. In recent years, Benny has been in an on-and-off relationship with a guy named Steve. Benny now hopes to open up an art cafe (cafe that also sells art) someday, but her applications for loans from the bank have all been rejected.

We also learn that Byron has an ex, Lynette, who has recently broken up with him. Also, while Byron is successful, he doesn't feel entirely fulfilled by his work since he's more of a spokesperson and media figure than a proper scientist. He has applied for a director-level position with his company (which would allow him to do more substantive work), but has been passed up twice.

In Part II , Eleanor continues the recording with the story of Eleanor "Elly" Douglas . Elly was raised in an orphanage and met Covey in London when they were both employed as nurses. Elly convinces Covey to leave London with her so they can pursue other dreams (Elly hopes to be a geologist), but they take a train that crashes and Elly is killed. When someone assumes that Covey is the one who died, Covey doesn't correct them, knowing that it's an opportunity to leave her past as a murder suspect behind. Instead, Covey takes on Elly's identity, going by Eleanor Douglas.

Meanwhile, on the Islands, they hear about Covey's death. Bunny is saddened to hear of the death, since she'd been a little in love with Covey in addition to being her best friend. Bunny has continued swimming since Covey left. Bunny was dating a guy named Jimmy and left him to be with a woman, Patsy, though she soon learned she was pregnant with Jimmy's child. Bunny ended up moving to England to continue her career as a distance swimmer along with Patsy as the two raised Bunny's son and Patsy's younger brother.

As "Eleanor Douglas", Covey moves to Scotland and takes a job doing office work. Things are going smoothly until one day, her boss rapes her. Eleanor soon leaves that job, but finds out she is pregnant. She takes refuge in a shelter run by nuns, but they eventually force her to adopt out her baby, who she named Mathilde (named after the woman who had helped her leave the island). A few months later, Eleanor spots Gibbs Grant. Despite knowing she should be cutting ties with the past, she calls out to him. Gibbs decides to give up his own past and changes his name to Bert Bennett so they can be together. (So, Gibbs and Covey became Bert and Eleanor Bennett.)

In Part III , in present day, Byron thinks about how his mother in her last few years seemed reckless and upset. (Flashbacks reveal that Eleanor had been upset over the absence of her first daughter.) Meanwhile, in those final years, Benny had wanted to reach out and had written a letter explaining to her mother what had happened with her at university and she apologized for not patching things up sooner. Benny had only sent the letter recently. She thought that she'd sent the letter too late (that her mother had passed away by then), but as they listen to the recording, Eleanor reveals that she'd gotten the letter, and she expresses regret at not being able to support Benny through her difficulties.

Another flashback reveals that even after their estrangement, Benny's father Bert had continued keeping tabs on her and even visited New York occasionally to see how she was doing, but he kept his distance thinking that she wasn't ready to reconcile. Unfortunately, Bert had died unexpectedly and was never able to reconcile with his daughter.

A different flashback discusses how in February 2018 (a year or so before Eleanor's death), she had gone to a talk being given by Etta Pringle , a famous long-distance swimmer. Etta is revealed to be Eleanor/Covey's childhood friend, Bunny. At the talk, Eleanor had discreetly told Etta that she goes by "Eleanor Bennett" now and lives in Anaheim.

Part IV introduces the character of Mabel "Marble" Martin. She is an "ethno-food guru" who has recently published a book on traditional food and how the "diaspora of food, just like the diaspora of people, has helped to shape many cultural traditions." Today, she is appearing on a television show and she talks about black cake and its origins. Black cake originated as a Christmastime fruit cake in Britain, but transformed into a rum cake when it was brought over to the Caribbean.

In a flashback, we learn that Marble was adopted by her (white) parents, Wanda and Ronald Martin . They never told Marble about the adoption, but she is slightly darker skinned than them and she suspects as much. In present day, Marble gets an e-mail from Eleanor's estate asking to meet with her. (In another flashback, we learn that before she died, Eleanor had recognized Marble, who looks like her, from a TV segment and had considered reaching out, but she didn't because she didn't want to reach out only to tell her daughter that she was dying.)

Meanwhile, back in California, Benny thinks about how she didn't go talk to Byron and her mother at her father's funeral. While they think she didn't show up, she actually did show up, but Steve is physically abusive towards her sometimes and had gotten violent with her the day before the funeral. Benny had wanted to talk to them, but didn't want them to notice her injuries. In present day, the lawyer Mr. Mitch also gives Benny some of her father's files, and Benny sees the receipts indicating that her father had gone to New York a few times to keep tabs on her.

In present day, Byron also gets back in touch with his ex, Lynette, (He attends a vigil for her nephew after her nephew faced an incident of police brutality.) He learns that she is pregnant with his child, and she wants to know how involved he wants to be. Byron thinks about it and realizes that he has never been good at showing the people he loves that he cares about them, and he wants to do better.

A short while later, Marble makes her way to California to meet Benny and Byron. It goes smoothly until Marble learns about her father (who assaulted Eleanor), and she leaves without saying goodbye. She ends up listening to Eleanor's recording along with her parents though, and eventually returns to California. When the three siblings are reunited once again, together they finally eat some of the frozen black cake that Eleanor left for them.

Inside the cake, they find a photograph of Covey, Gibbs and Bunny together. They also find some trinkets belonging to Elly. The trinkets turn out to be valuable old coins (a flashback reveals that they were stolen by a slave from her master and buried, and the slave left behind when she escaped. Elly then dug them up 200 years later.

Together, the siblings decide that it's time to go back to the island and find out what happened with their mother's murder charge. Before going back, they go to find Etta Pringle/Bunny. She recognizes who they are because Marble looks like a fair-skinned version of Covey and the other two siblings look like Gibbs. Then, all four of them travel to the island and go to visit Pearl.

They also go to see Eleanor/Covey's father Lin, but the meeting is brief since Byron gets mad at Lin for how he treated Covey. Lin is now wealthy after having finally given up gambling, making some money on the black market and having made some good investments in the stock market. Lin has a stroke as a result of the meeting, but he survives.

After all these events, Byron is inspired to take control of his life and to be a proper husband and father to Lynette and their child. He also sues his employer who he believes had unfairly promoted a less-qualified white man over him and uses the settlement to start his own consultancy company. Meanwhile, Benny has been getting more art commission lately and a illustration she did of Etta has gone viral. Benny also stops responding to Steve's calls and she flirts with a different man -- while she doesn't know if it'll work out, it makes her realize that she's open to love again.

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Book Review

So, I started Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson when it first came out and got distracted by other things. The past two weeks or so, I’ve been waylaid in bed after some complicated oral surgery, so now that I’m on the mend, I thought I would finish it up. This means, however, that I am reading this while still hopped up on Codeine and other painkillers so … yeah. That’s the situation over here.

Anyway, Black Cake is about two estranged, mixed-race siblings, Benny and Byron, whose mother has recently passed away. She leaves them a frozen black cake — a dessert that originates from the Caribbean Islands but relies on influences from other countries as well, resulting in a mixed inheritance that is reflected in the story of this family as well — in the fridge and a recording of her telling them the truth about her past and where she comes from. As Benny and Byron follow her story, they realize they knew very little about the person their mother truly was, and they comes to realize how complicated their roots are.

Black Cake makes for eventful reading with lots of ups and downs in the story of this family. There is a lot of plot and the book moves briskly forward from one event to the next. If you’re someone who likes family dramas, but feels like some of them are a little too “slow” — this might be a good pick for you.

Wilkerson also does a good job of pacing out the small “reveals” about these siblings and their inheritance — in the form of their culture and where they came from — which makes for satisfying reading as an image of their family history begins to take shape. I appreciated how she goes back and revisits certain details that perhaps seemed minor or unimportant earlier on in the story.

Some Criticisms

Overall, I would say that I found reading Black Cake to be an enjoyable experience, but with some important caveats.

Black Cake longs to be a book about understanding your identity, about a mixing of cultures and about reconciling your past, but it doesn’t take the time to properly delve into a lot of these things. It hits a lot of plot points very quickly without stopping to let the characters reflect or offer insights into their journeys.

It’s a shame because there’s so many plot points book could have chosen to go more in depth into — like forced adoption, arranged marriage, sexual assault, gambling addiction, violence based on sexual identity, domestic violence, blending of cultures, cultural appropriation, police brutality, and so on — that it seems like there’s missed opportunities at every turn.

For me, it ended up feeling like there was a little too much going on in the book and not enough thorough exploration of the multitude of issues it was bringing up. It sort of just threw stuff out there and kept moving. I imagine some people won’t mind this so much, though, if you generally prefer more fast-paced books.

Read it or Skip it?

Black Cake is a plot-driven family drama that makes for eventful reading. It turned out to be more soap opera-y and surface-level than I’d hoped, but the action-packed plot helps to briskly move the story along. The lack of deeper reflection left the book feeling somewhat forgettable to me, but it wasn’t an unenjoyable read. I found that the way Wilkerson unravels the story of this family pretty satisfying as it goes along.

I would give this a “maybe” recommendation as a book club pick. There’s certainly plenty of stuff that the book covers, but its coverage of any of these topics seems a little too superficial to allow for a lot of in-depth, meaty discussion. If your book club is really interested in the premise, you could give it a shot. The last book I read that I thought would make for a compelling and substantive book club discussion was The School for Good Mothers .

See Black Cake on Amazon.

Black Cake Audiobook Review

Narrator : Lynnette R. Freeman & Simone Mcintyre Length : 12 hours

Hear a sample of the Black Cake audiobook on Libro.fm.

Discussion Questions

• What did you like or dislike about the book Black Cake?
• What is the significance of Black Cake in this story and why do you think Wilkerson uses it as a focal point of her story?
• Why do you think Eleanor decides to tell this story to her children in her will as opposed to before her death? Why do you think she decides to hide so much of herself from her family?
• What did you think of the character of Benny and the path that her life has taken?
• At one point, Eleanor mentions how she found herself feeling like she’d brought her struggles onto herself by “refusing to accept the life that others had expected me to live” and later realized that was how she’d made Benny feel. In what ways were she and Benny trying to live based on other’s expectations, and do you think she was wrong in how she treated or handled her relationship with Benny?
• What did you think of the character of Byron and the path that his life as taken? Why do you think he became the person he was and do you think the work that he does (as a public persona promoting ocean and life sciences) is important?
• What did you think of Eleanor’s life story and the person she eventually became? Did you see her as a character you could root for?

Book Excerpt

Read the first pages of Black Cake

Movie / TV Show Adaptation

See Everything We Know About the 'Black Cake' Adaptation

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We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

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Soyez gentil et vous serez seul. Vous devez être une personne flexible et savoir

YOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LUV BLACK CAKE!!!!!!!

I enjoyed this story. I disagree with your review that each plot point should have been expanded more. To do that each (“forced adoption, arranged marriage, sexual assault, gambling addiction, violence based on sexual identity, domestic violence, blending of cultures, cultural appropriation, police brutality”) could be a book in itself & would have made the book too long. She made readers aware of these issues & disturbed by them without needing to expand on them.

Book Review: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Posted February 1, 2022 by WendyW in Book Review / 18 Comments

In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.

We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to "share the black cake when the time is right"? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson is a fascinating look at family dynamics with several mysteries that must be unraveled throughout the book.  This debut novel is beautifully written with gorgeous descriptions of the Caribbean islands. 

Benny and Byron Bennet have been estranged for many years, but their mother’s death brings them together as they meet up in California and learn about their Mother’s troubled, yet fascinating past.  They learn about her adventures, secrets, and lies, and together they have to come to terms with these secrets and the fallout that will change their lives forever. 

We also follow Elenor, Benny, and Byron’s mother, from a young island girl from the Caribbean to the UK and then on to the US where she starts her family.  Her life, and some of the difficult choices she had to make to stay alive, make an engrossing story that is difficult to put down.  

The book changes POV and timelines with short chapters that kept me engaged throughout the entire story.  I liked shifting between characters and timelines as it kept everything moving quickly.  The writing is beautiful, and the author handles sensitive topics and tough situations with care and compassion.  

I recommend this book to anyone who loves books about families and secrets.  I received a complimentary copy of this book.  The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Interesting tidbits:

• In development as a Hulu original series produced by Marissa Jo Cerar, Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Films), and Kapital Entertainment
• Charmaine Wilkerson’s Debut Novel

About Charmaine Wilkerson

Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in the Caribbean and is based in Italy. She is a former journalist and recovered marathon runner whose award-winning short stories can be found in various UK and US anthologies and magazines. Black Cake (2022) will be her first novel.

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18 responses to “ book review: black cake by charmaine wilkerson ”.

Sounds like this was a good book. I love that so many books are being adapted onto the screen, whether movie or tv.

Great review Wendy. I was invited to read this one, but couldn’t fit it in, so I passed. Now I need to wait until my library gets it. I love stories about families.

Wonderful review. I love the setting and short chapter engagement.

Thank you Kimberly!

I love books about family and secrets. I might have to read this one.

Thank you, Kami! It was very interesting as well as enjoyable.

Right now I am sticking with lighter reads, but this does sound interesting. Great review!

This was good, but not what I would call light!

I love multiple povs and timelines! I’ll have to try this one. Great review!

Thank you, Joanna! It was better than I expected.

Lovely review Wendy🙂 this sounds a fascinating read, especially that we get the povs of the siblings and their mom.

Thank you, Mallika!

This sounds absolutely fascinating and riveting. Excellent review!

Thank you Tessa

Fantastic review! I can’t wait to read this one.

Thank you Rae! It was really good.

This sounds really good 💕

Thank you, Jenny!

The Weekly Ringer

The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper

Book review: “Black Cake” by Charmaine Wilkerson explores the complex parent-child relationship

"Black Cake" is a novel that discusses family secrets and struggles for the truth. Ian Chapman / The Weekly Ringer

by KATY ROSE PRICE

Staff Writer

“Black Cake” by Charmaine Wilkerson is a complicated read that requires you to follow multiple threads and paths as the narrative travels between the 1960s and 2018. At the same time, Wilkerson employs strategic pacing with short, enticing chapters that make this novel a fast, vibrant read. The chapters shift between characters’ perspectives, giving readers a glimpse into the minds of each character as they cope with loss and a new reality. The novel is a multigenerational family saga that follows the lives of three generations of women. Published in 2022, this is Wilkerson’s debut novel, marking her place as one of the up-and-coming authors of the near future.

Somewhere on an unidentified Caribbean island in 1965, a bride throws herself into the ocean after the mysterious death of her new husband, a gangster who is significantly older than her, and is never seen again in her village. In the year 2018, estranged siblings Byron and Benny are forced to reconcile when they learn of their mother Eleanor’s death and the eight-hour audio recording she has left them. The siblings are also given a note that reads, “B and B, there’s a small black cake in the freezer for you. I want you to sit down and share the cake when the time is right. You’ll know when.”

The novel is a deft exploration of the complex and nuanced relationship between parent and child. Wilkerson explores how our relationship with our parents changes as we grow older as she also examines the impact of race, class, culture and trauma on the parent-child relationship. Eleanor reveals secrets, stories and parts of her life that she had never shared with her children, changing what they thought they knew about themselves, their lineage and their parents. Both stories ask whether it’s possible to truly know another person and contemplate the risk we take when we show others our true selves. 

Byron and Benny had a sense of identity before Eleanor’s death. They were Southern Californian and the children of Caribbean immigrants who had lost their own parents. While they each had their own trials and obstacles, they were relatively well-situated and understood their places in society. However, upon hearing the story of their mother’s convoluted journey for the very first time, their prior-established identities begin to unravel and transform; their parents were not the people they thought they were, but it’s too late to ask questions. All Byron and Benny have now is each other… or so they think. 

The thread that weaves through the novel is the black cake. Black cake is a dense, rum-soaked, fruit-packed dessert that is a Caribbean tradition, served at Christmas, Easter and weddings. As Byron notes, “it was essentially a plum pudding handed down to the Caribbeans by colonizers from a cold country.” In learning this traditional recipe, Eleanor was taught how to soak fruits for months beforehand, letting the flavors develop and deepen, then incorporated into the batter of the cake. 

The cake is a timeless tradition Eleanor passed down to her children, for they would help her make one every year for her and her husband’s wedding anniversary, and they even buried her husband with a piece. After her death, the cake she’s left for her children serves as a symbol of their family’s history, even though it’s entirely different than what they thought it was. 

As Byron and Benny reconcile what their mother’s revelations mean for their lives going forward, the black cake provides some comfort, reminding them of their mother’s love and affection for them. Just as it did for Byron and Benny, the cake provided Eleanor with solace as an uprooted, orphaned young woman, reminding her of her own mother and the special time they spent together years ago. Byron and Benny have the task of understanding their mother’s past, and the cake is pivotal in aiding the siblings with unearthing their family story, reassessing their own sense of self and bringing together family members.

“Black Cake” is a powerful exploration of the complexities of the parent-child relationship, for Wilkerson expertly reflects on how your identity can change in a split-second. Her novel shows how our relationships with our parents can shape our lives, identities and the lives of future generations, and how we can learn to navigate the challenges and joys of these relationships. 

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Book Review: ‘Black Cake’ by Charmaine Wilkerson

Image Credit: Quinn Keaney

Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake feels a lot like the recipe for the story’s titular dessert: complex, deep, and layered. It’s something that seems like it’ll take time to fully coalesce in your mind, to be wholly appreciated as you think back on different aspects of the narrative . . . but I can’t wait that long!!! Because this book is good as hell, and I need to scream from the (digital) rooftops about why it deserves to rocket to the top of your TBR pile.

This epic generational story — which is currently in development as a Hulu original series with Oprah producing, NBD — begins with estranged siblings Benny and Byron, who are brought together by deeply unfortunate circumstances: the passing of their mother, Eleanor. Originally from the Caribbean, their mother was a sturdy, encouraging presence throughout the course of their lives, teaching them how to swim, surf, excel, and, of course, bake the perfect black cake. She was tall and loving, and an unfailing pillar of support for their late father, Bert. But as most children come to discover as they get older, Eleanor’s life didn’t revolve entirely around them. Not even close.

Eleanor was an enigma. After her passing, she has family friend and attorney Mr. Mitch unite Byron with his younger sister so they can sit down and listen to their mother’s sprawling, shocking life story, which she made a recording of before her death. While the devastating secrets Eleanor reveals forever change Benny and Byron, a lot of the novel’s dramatic edge hinges on what could have been for their mother — Eleanor might’ve grown up to be a champion swimmer, had an entirely different family life, or . . . well, we’ll never know for sure. Those opportunities were taken from her, in ways you’ll find out as you read (I don’t want to spoil it for you).

Book Review: ‘The Vanishing Half’ by Brit Bennett

Book review: ‘the vanishing half’ by brit bennett 〰️ book review: ‘the vanishing half’ by brit bennett 〰️.

If you haven’t already been able to guess: this book is intense. There are moments of lightness, for sure, but it doesn’t shy away from taking some pretty heart-wrenching turns. I found myself in constant awe of Wilkerson’s ability to weave such a wide-ranging story and group of characters together, all while seamlessly incorporating themes of motherhood, resilience, womanhood, friendship, racism, environmentalism, sexuality . . . truly I could list about a dozen more.

How did she do it?! This book is remarkable, with writing so lyrical and descriptive that you’ll swear you can feel the same island sea breeze that Covey does on your skin, gulping down the same salty sea water, before being whisked away to the overcast skies and gritty alleyways of 1970s London. You can smell and taste this book as much as you can feel it.

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Summary and Reviews of Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio

• BookBrowse Review:
• Critics' Consensus ( 6 ) :
• Readers' Rating ( 5 ):
• First Published:
• Feb 1, 2022, 400 pages
• Nov 2022, 416 pages

• Literary Fiction
• Central & S. America, Mexico, Caribbean
• Contemporary
• Parenting & Families
• Strong Women
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• Publication Information
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• Buy This Book Amazon Bookshop.org

About This Book

Book summary.

In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past - a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.

We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to "share the black cake when the time is right"? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

She's here. Byron hears the elevator doors peel open. His first instinct is to rush toward his sister and embrace her. But when Benny leans in to hug him, Byron pushes her away, then turns to knock on the door to the attorney's office. He feels Benny put a hand on his arm. He shakes it free. Benny stands there, her mouth open, but says nothing. And what right does she have to say anything? Byron hasn't seen Benny in eight years. And, now, their ma is gone for good. What does Benny expect? She took a family argument and turned it into a cold war. Never mind all that talk about societal rejection and discrimination and whatnot. It seems to Byron that whatever kind of problem you have in this world, you can find someone to show you understanding. And times are changing. There's even been a study in the news recently about people like Benny. People like Benny. The study says it can be a lonely road for people like her. But she won't be getting any sympathy from Byron, no. Benedetta ...

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Media Reviews

Reader reviews, bookbrowse review.

Both plotlines are absorbing and well-written. Eleanor's is fast-paced and unpredictable, propelling the story along at a good clip, but I was particularly drawn to the narrative involving her children. I found their interactions especially realistic; neither understands the other's point of view, and they each blame the other for the rift that's occurred. They long for reconciliation, but each is angry, feeling they're owed an apology that never comes. Both stories ask whether it's possible to truly know another person, and contemplate the risk we take when we show others our true selves. These themes struck a deep chord with me... continued

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(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs ).

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Mapping the ocean floor.

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Read-Alikes

• Genres & Themes

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