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Black Cake: A Novel Hardcover – February 1, 2022

by Charmaine Wilkerson (Author)

4.4 23,121 ratings

Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction

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NOW A HULU STREAMING SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • Two estranged siblings delve into their mother’s hidden past—and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake—in this immersive family saga, “a character-driven, multigenerational story that’s meant to be savored” (Time).

“Wilkerson transports you across the decades and around the globe accompanied by complex, wonderfully drawn characters.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, and Malibu Rising

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, NPR, BuzzFeed, Glamour, PopSugar, Book Riot, She Reads

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 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.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Ballantine Books
Publication date

February 1, 2022
Dimensions

6.45 x 1.25 x 9.52 inches
ISBN-10

0593358333
ISBN-13

978-0593358337
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Question yourself, yes, but don’t doubt yourself. There’s a difference.
Highlighted by 3,078 Kindle readers
Because the people you loved were part of your identity, too. Perhaps the biggest part.
Highlighted by 2,254 Kindle readers
Of how untold stories shape people’s lives, both when they are withheld and when they are revealed.
Highlighted by 2,164 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

You never forget the taste of home.black cake;jenna reads;book club book;coming of age;historical

Black Cake is a Read With Jenna Book Club Pick!;book club book;jenna bush book;book club recommends

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of February 2022: Perfect for book clubs, Black Cake follows the story of estranged grown siblings who come together after the death of their mother and discover a secret that upends everything they’ve ever known about their family. You will root for these flawed but relatable characters, as they travel from the Caribbean to London to California, in order to reckon with the past. It’s a juicy and satisfying read of secrets and betrayals, race and class, the pain of expectations, the power of love, and yes, a family tradition of Black Cake. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor

Review

“Black Cake is a character-driven, multigenerational story that’s meant to be savored. . . . Thought-provoking and poignant.”—Time

“A thrilling debut novel about sibling ties and hidden family history.”—Glamour

“As delicious as the titular dessert.”—W Magazine

“Wilkerson explores the nuances of racial identity and betrayal in a powerful novel.”—Vogue (UK)

“Black Cake is a satisfying literary meal, heralding the arrival of a new novelist to watch.”—Associated Press

“A stellar first-time entry from a talented new writer that’s full of food, surfing, and rich patois.”—BET

“Crafted with delicate intention and textured with a blend of perspectives.”—Vulture

“I was instantly taken in by this multigenerational tale of identity, family, and the lifelong push and pull of home. This novel has a tremendous heart at its center, and I felt its beat on every page. What an extraordinary debut.”—Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes

“Exquisite and expansive, Black Cake took ahold of me from the first page and didn’t let go. This is a novel about the formation and reformation of a family, and the many people, places, and events that can shape our inheritances without our knowing. A gripping, poignant debut from an important, new voice.”—Naima Coster, New York Times bestselling author of What’s Mine and Yours

“Black Cake has all the ingredients of the tastiest stories: secrets, romance, danger, and a cast of characters so real you want to scream at them one moment and hug them the next.”—Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

“So beautifully written I’m struggling to believe it’s a debut . . . The cake is the glue that holds all the layers together and the scenes are so well drawn I could almost taste the cake, feel the warm sea on my skin.”—Nikki May, author of Wahala

“With fantasy-like sensual detail, Wilkerson slips through time and place to explore the emotional weight of family traditions passed down through generations to heirs challenged to find their own emotional truths.”—Lucy Sanna, author of The Cherry Harvest

“Fans of family dramas by Ann Patchett, Brit Bennett, and Karen Joy Fowler should take note. Black Cake marks the launch of a writer to watch, one who masterfully plumbs the unexpected depths of the human heart.”—BookPage (starred review)

“Wilkerson uses one Caribbean American family’s extraordinary tale to probe universal issues of identity and how the lives we live and the choices we make leave ‘a trail of potential consequences’ that pass down through generations.”—Booklist (starred review)

About the Author

Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in Jamaica and is based in Italy. A graduate of Barnard College and Stanford University, she is a former journalist whose award-winning short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Black Cake is her first novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Now

2018

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 Bennett gave up that luxury years ago when she turned her back on her family, even though she claims it was the other way around. At least she showed up this time. Six years ago, Byron and his mother sat in the church across from his father’s coffin up in L.A. County, waiting for Benny to arrive, but no Benny. Later, Byron thought he saw his sister skirting the burial grounds in the back of a car. She’d be there any minute, he thought. But, still, no Benny. Only a text from her later, saying I’m sorry. Then silence. For months at a time. Then years.

As each year went by, he was less certain that Benny had been there that day or that he’d ever had a sister to begin with.

That he’d ever had a chubby, squiggle-headed baby girl following him around the house.

That she’d ever cheered him on at the national meets.

That he’d ever heard her voice sailing across the auditorium as he closed his hand around his doctoral diploma.

That he’d ever not felt the way he does right now. Orphaned and pissed as hell.

Benny

Her mother’s attorney opens the door and Benny looks past him, half expecting to see her ma sitting in the room. But it’s only Benny and Byron now, and Byron won’t even look at her.

The lawyer is saying something about a message from their mother but Benny can’t concentrate, she’s still looking at Byron, at the bits of gray in his hair that didn’t use to be there. What’s with the pushing, anyway? The man is forty-five years old, not ten. In all these years, her big brother has never shoved her, never hit her, not even when she was little and tended to pounce and bite like a puppy.

Benny’s first memory of Byron: They are sitting on the couch, she is settled under her brother’s arm, and Byron is reciting adventure stories to her from a book. His feet can already touch the floor. Byron stops to fluff Benny’s hair with his fingers, to pull on her earlobes, to pinch her nostrils shut, to tickle her until she is breathless with laughter, until she is dying of happiness.

The Message

Their mother has left them a message, the lawyer says. The lawyer’s name is Mr. Mitch. He’s talking to Byron and Benny as though he’s known them all their lives, though Byron can only recall meeting him one other time, when his ma needed help getting around town after her accident last winter, the one his friend Cable insisted wasn’t an accident. Byron walked his mother up to Mr. Mitch’s office, then went back outside to wait for her in the car. He was sitting there watching some kids skateboard down the broad, buff-toned sidewalks between one high-end chain store and the next, when a police officer rapped on his side window.

This kind of thing had happened to Byron so often over the course of his adult life that sometimes he forgot to be nervous. But most times, whenever he was approached or pulled over by an officer, he slid down into that space between one heartbeat and the next where he could hear his blood crashing through his body, a waterfall carrying centuries of history with it, threatening to wipe out the ground on which he stood. His research, his books and social media following, the speaking engagements, the scholarship he wanted to fund, all of it, could be gone in a split second of misunderstanding.

Only later, after the officer had opened the trunk of his patrol car and come back with a copy of Byron’s latest book (Could he have an autograph?), did it occur to Byron that a grown man of any color, sitting alone in a car watching pre-adolescents skateboard up and down the sidewalk, could elicit a reasonable degree of suspicion. All right, he could see that, it wasn’t always about him being a black man. Though, mostly, it was.

“Let me just warn you,” Mr. Mitch is saying now. “About your mother. You need to be prepared.”

Prepared?

Prepared for what? Their mother is already gone.

His ma.

He doesn’t see how anything after that is going to make much of a difference.

B and B

There’s an entire file box labeled Estate of Eleanor Bennett. Mr. Mitch pulls out a brown paper envelope with their mother’s handwriting on it and puts it on the desk in front of Byron. Benny shifts her seat closer to Byron’s and leans in to look. Byron removes his hand but leaves the packet where Benny can see it. Their ma has addressed the envelope to B and B, the moniker she liked to use whenever she wrote or spoke to them together.

B-and-B notes were usually pinned to the fridge door with a magnet. B and B, there’s some rice and peas on the stove. B and B, I hope you left your sandy shoes at the door. B and B, I love my new earrings, thank you!

Ma only called them Byron or Benny when she was speaking with one sibling or the other, and she only called Benny Benedetta when she was upset.

Benedetta, what about this report card? Benedetta, don’t talk to your father that way. Benedetta, I need to talk to you.

Benedetta, please come home.

Their mother left a letter, Mr. Mitch says, but most of their mother’s last message is contained in an audio file that took her more than eight hours, over four days, to record.

“Go ahead,” Mr. Mitch says, nodding at the packet.

Byron cuts open the envelope and shakes out its contents, a USB drive and a handwritten note. He reads the note out loud. It’s so typically Ma.

B and B, there’s a small black cake in the freezer for you. Don’t throw it out.

Black cake. Byron catches himself smiling. Ma and Dad used to share a slice of cake every year to mark their anniversary. It wasn’t the original wedding cake, they said, not anymore. Ma would make a new one every five years or so, one layer only, and put it in the freezer. Still, she insisted that any black cake, steeped as it was in rum and port, could have lasted the full length of their marriage.

I want you to sit down together and share the cake when the time is right. You’ll know when.

Benny covers her mouth with one hand.

Love, Ma.

Benny starts to cry.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books; First Edition (February 1, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593358333
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593358337
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.38 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.45 x 1.25 x 9.52 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #18,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #436 in Black & African American Women's Fiction (Books)
- #603 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #922 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.4 23,121 ratings

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Charmaine Wilkerson

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Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in Jamaica and is now based in Italy. A graduate of Barnard College and Stanford University, she is a former journalist whose award-winning short stories have appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Black Cake is her first novel.

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Kindle Customer

A family saga like no other

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book has so much heart in it. Family stories, cultural stories, heartache and pain, and happiness. I cried more than once while reading this. The formatting of the stories and the viewpoints this is perfect. It makes the main story complete and perfect.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Donna Allred

Easy Read, Hard to Put Down

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2024

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This is one of the better books I’ve read in a while. It’s an easy read, but has complicated plot lines and great character development. I didn’t want it to end.

5 people found this helpful

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Savvy Shopper

Captivating, better than show

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024

Verified Purchase

I love this story and it made me want to watch the show on Hulu. It misses some of the descriptors from the book & ends on a major cliff hanger. Book over the show, hands down.

2 people found this helpful

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shea moore

Beautiful Story

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024

Verified Purchase

loved this book and the story, I even watch the Hulu adaptation. but this book is such a beautiful story of love, loss, friendship, and survival and what it means to keep secrets and how they affect everyone in your circle.

4 people found this helpful

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Lillie Rounsaville

Slow

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024

Verified Purchase

Slow read didn't capture my interest until I had read over 100 pages

One person found this helpful

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M. Fountain

Well written debut novel

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024

Verified Purchase

I was determined to read this before watching the series on Hulu. I am glad that I did. This a 4.5 🌟 read for me, an outstanding debut novel. What a journey as the truth was revealed about Eleanor and Bert Bennet especially for their children. Just when you thought you knew something the author said "hold my beer". I love both the historical and cultural context which made the story rich. While I wished for more dialogue to give strength to character development I did appreciate the author's approach in crafting this engaging read in a unique style making for a rewarding reading experience. The pacing of the story worked for me as well.

One person found this helpful

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Marcy White

Great read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

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Very good book with endearing characters that are easy to relate to. Covers many issues from loss, to racism, to forgiveness. A must read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024

Verified Purchase

I must say this book was Top Tier. I gave it a 5 star because it was well written and well rounded. This book went full circle covering the lives of each character. I actually watched the tv series 1st before I knew anything about the book and that was the only thing that I hated that I did. It kind of takes away the suspense of what's to come. As always in my opinion the books are always better than a tv series or a movie simply because the book has more time to develop characters as well as the story line. I would highly recommend this book to others. Lastly, this book is a keeper for book club.

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Pat Challenger

Great Story

Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2024

Verified Purchase

Read this with my Book Club. We gave it a 4.5 rating. The book held your interest. Liked the style of writing the way the chapters could be long or short. The characters were well developed and you got a feel for each one. It was thought provoking.... would I make those choices... do you blame the heroine for her choices... thought provoking. Definitely recommend it.

SJ

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2024

Verified Purchase

This is such a beautifully written story invoking a lot of warmth and imagery from the Caribbean. It gently touches on the so many themes that will resonate with people with a Caribbean heritage. I devoured it days it was such a lovely read.

Shaljami

A Delightfully Warm Tale

Reviewed in India on September 26, 2023

Verified Purchase

After the death of Eleanor Bennett, her two children Byron and Benny are left behind with an inheritance of a black cake (made from family recipe) and a voice recorded story. A story about a young girl, a promising swimmer who fled her native land as a result of being the prime suspect of a murder.
Their world quakes with various questions as she reveals that they have another sister and that they must eat the cake only when the time is right. They will know know when the time is right.
The narration oscillates between the past and present setting smoothly. The story unfolds beautifully whilst touching on various themes like family, lineage, racism, survival, cultural diaspora, environmental issues, motherhood and so many more. I particularly enjoyed debutant author's storytelling style, there was an immediate command yet a warm ease to the whole atmosphere. It made me look forward to keep turning the pages for revelations.
The characters, each and everyone of them entwined in realistic, flawed relationships. These characters Benny, Byron, Eleanor, Charles, Covey, Pearl, Bunny and Marble will stay with me for a long time. The delicacy of handling blame, regret, guilt, confusion was masterfully crafted.
My review will be incomplete if I don't talk about the black cake traditions, the food and culture element in the story. It gave it an added leverage to the story for me personally. The description and details of the setting clasped together wonderfully along the plot.
Finally how the plot unfolded and then wrapped up in the end felt just right to me.
This is a tale that warms one's heart through and through. There was so much to take away from this tale. I recommend it to all those who love a good historical family fiction.

SMG

Great read

Reviewed in France on August 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have friends from the islands and this book was just full of culture and a great story. I loved every minute and could not put it down.

2 people found this helpful

Louise Mangos

Colourful characters, beautiful writing

Reviewed in Germany on July 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is so much more than a family saga. Wilkerson has created such a colourful world taking the reader on a magical journey, geographically and through generations. Heart-wrenching in places, these characters will stay with you long after you have finished their story.

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