American author Brit Bennett on her novel ‘The Vanishing Half’ and the presidential election

What happens when you decide to become a new person? Author Brit Bennett explores issues of self-determination, identity and race in her latest book, “The Vanishing Half”. This critically acclaimed novel follows the twins Stella and Désirée Vignes as they follow vastly different paths; a journey that takes them from the secluded American south to coastal, cosmopolitan cities through the Midwest over five decades.

Bennett was driven to the top of the bestseller lists after her 2016 debut “The Mothers” became a word-of-mouth sensation that threw the young writer into the literary spotlight.

She joins us from her home in New York to talk about the historical questions that inspired her latest book, why “passers-by” is a deeply American idea, and what is at stake in the presidential election.