This was critically acclaimed and for good reason. It balances a dual timeline well, which I find. can be really difficult for an author to execute in a satisfying, smart way.

Highly captivating and addictive multigenerational family saga of secrets! The characters and story telling kept me engaged and I was genuinely surprised with each twist. So many layers of grief, love, sacrifices, memories explored in this book. It forces you to question how well you think you know the people closest to you; family. Sometimes, you really don't. I loved Benny. I UNDERSTOOD her. There were times when. I felt like her choices were a bit extreme for the situation but I completely understood her reasoning for staying away. Also, family expectations are a helleva thing. I personally felt it was unfair of Bert and Elly to impose what i percieved to be harsh, non negotiable expectations on their children because of the sacrifices they had to make to give themselves and their children better lives. Etta, Bunny!!! I loved Bunny fiercly for all she did and who she turned out to be. Covey & Gibbs!!! My mouth is still hanging open because is this unconditional love or what? I think their sacrifice that they made together outweighed the secrets they kept from each other. Also, on another personal note. I don't know how I would feel as an adult learning about all these layered, heavy family secrets when the parents are no longer alive to answer the unanswered questions. This book wrapped up somewhat nicely, but I can't imagine these things being realistically easy to accept and understand! Ok, rant over. Long story short, go read this book. Highly recommend.

I really wanted to get through this book so that I can watch the TV series. I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I was. This book had me on a rollercoaster ride getting to know the characters and learning the secrets they hold. I enjoyed how the author made this “average” family seem related. I feel you will find yourself in one of these characters and the love aspect in the book was so heartwarming. I’m excited to start the show.

A friend recommended this to me so I read at her request. We had some really great conversations about ideas and perspectives we wouldn't have had otherwise.

I really enjoyed this one! I love books that are written from multiple perspectives and how this one jumps from the past to the present so effortlessly. This book touched on so many important issues and it was just written so beautifully. Excellent debut!

This was just the book that I needed. This is about two siblings but so much more! It is the perfect amount of family drama, with secrets and history that is revealed. I love a good family drama and this filled that mark.
Highly recommend and then watch the Hulu adaptation.
#BlackCake #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantine

A black cake is similar to a fruitcake. It is typically served at weddings and celebrations.

Upon her death, Elly Bennett's children. Benny and Byron are drawn together to listen to the story of their mother's life......told in her own voice. They will learn the era in which she lived treated women as barter, but their mother managed to escape that fate and run the rest of her life from her father's wrath. This story winds through some of the most tumultous times in history, especially for persons of mixed race. As the story is built into layers of a cake, each of Elly's children and friends will learn of secrets that would change their lives. This was a unique story line dedicated to a time in history that I didn't know much about. I've already had to research several things......including what a black cake is.

* I received this ARC and would like to thank NetGalley and the publishing house. This review is my honest reaction to the book.*

I am embarrassed to say that this ARC sat in my To Be Read pile for waaay to long. It took Hulu making a series based on this for me to read it. I had to read the book first so I could compare it to the series. Yep, I'm that person.

I find myself in a tough spot because I don't want to give anything away because I wholeheartedly believe that everyone should either read this book or watch the show. The plot is that good.
I thought the story was going to be all about Benny and Byron and their very complicated relationship with each other and their mother Eleanor. It starts with the children meeting up at their mother's solicitor's office for the reading of Eleanor's will. I was so wrong! This story does of course cover the ups and downs of Benny and Byron's lives but it's really about the secret life of Eleanor.
I just can't explain how much I loved this book and yes, the TV series is also pretty good but for me the book was THE BEST!

This book was so magical. I felt transported to the island adn all I wanted is a piece of black cake. I recommended this to so many of my firends and family members

One woman’s struggle to have her own life, be safe and be with the man she loves is the story of Covey Lyncook. Because of a forced marriage, she escapes from her Caribbean home and starts a new life. But the fates are not on her side, and she is once again forced to start over. She finally has the life she struggled for, only to have her past haunt her. Before her death, she leaves a message for her children. She tells them about her struggles and her history. She also tells them her deepest secret. How her children reacted to her story makes for a good read. This is a great multigenerational story with lots of twists and turns. I would recommend Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.

Black Cake was one of the best books I have ever read. I wish I could read it again for the first time. Make this your next read. You won’t regret it

This novel is full of twists and turns and family secrets. It is up to siblings Benny and Byron to deal with their mother's unknown past and sacrifice. Through her telling of her personal story by audio recording, only to be played upon her death, her estranged children are pulled together and find one more big secret waiting for the.

I loved this book for the way it portrays a complex woman and family dynamics. It is also a great reminder on the importance of open communication and letting go of preconceived notions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an advanced copy of Black Cake in exchange for an honest review.

Food has long been an important part of family and culture with recipes being passed down through generations. This story revolves around the traditions and Caribbean Black Cake that was centerpiece of family gatherings. The story begins with Mr. Charles Mitch, the attorney delegated to handle the Will of Eleanor who dies a few years after her husband, Bert. She leaves her son, Byron and daughter, Benedetta "Benny" an audio recording of her wishes for her children as well as wanting to share some long held family secrets. Both Byron and Benny have gathered at their childhood home where they are forced to revisit the past and reconcile differences.

Back in 1965, Coventina "Covey" Lyncook was young with dreams which did not include her father, Johnny "Lin" Lyncook, marrying her off to Little Man to settle his gambling debt. She is plucked from her carefree youth spending time with her friend, Bunny swimming and crushing on surfer Gibbs. An unfortunate event occurs at the reception following the marriage ceremony of Covey and Little Man. He collapses on the floor and dies leading suspicion onto Covey as her resentment about the arranged marriage was evident. She is quickly allowed to flee from the island with help from friends after her husband Little Man collapses at the wedding reception. Covey fears going to jail for "murder" after his untimely death.

Covey befriends Eleanor "Elly" Douglas as they travel by train to London where Covey hopes to reunite with Gibbs and Eleanor seeks a job as a nurse. A tragic accident causes the train to derail leaving few survivors. Eleanor managed to piece her life together after the tragedy. She experiences more challenging events in the years to follow which all shape and define her life in ways she never imagined. She ultimately marries Bert and raises Byron and Benny "B and B" until Bert dies and she is alone dying of cancer. Upon her death, she instructs Mr. Mitch to ensure both siblings are present during her audio recorded "will" which also serves as a confession and exposure of long buried secrets. Her dying wish is for her children to reunite and understand the sacrifices and lies which were needed to protect the family.

This is a story rich with family traditions, secrets, love and tragedy. A bittersweet dedication to the endurance and resilience of the human spirit.

I found Black Cake a compelling read. The story of the estranged siblings and their eventual reunion intertwined with the family secrets created an authentic story. They sibling’s struggles and family secrets are realistic and don’t feel contrived. I’m looking forward to my book club discussion discussing of the relationships and secrets while enjoying a slice of black cake.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARCof this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I forgot to come back and review this because I ended up buying a print copy! Beautiful. Loved it. Also enjoyed the show! Looking forward to the next book by this author.

This book definitely lived up to the hype for me!

I was hooked and completely intrigued by Eleanor's story and I could not stop reading! It was compelling and heartbreaking and beautiful, and explored family, identity, and the power of tradition.

Can't wait to watch the Hulu show!

I found the opening of the book with a reading of a will to be very catching. Charmaine Wilkerson does not disappoint. This is a story of a brother and sister and how they grew apart and then found each other. It's a story of a mother with secrets that are revealed. It's a story of the times, cultures and most of all how a Black Cake ties them together. This is a good book for book club discussions.

Delightful on many levels, this book took me by surprise. As someone who, like the author, is of Caribbean parentage, I loved the full and lush descriptions of small village life in what felt transparently to be Jamaica, though the narrative does not say so. I also loved (at first) the style of prose that was like an oral history being told by one of your elders, sprinkled with folkloric elements that make you question whether what you're being told is strictly factual, or colored and shaped by long-ago perceptions and difficult emotions. One example of that would be Gibbs' and Covey's reunion in the UK. 'Did it happen like that?' 'Could it have?' you want to ask. But because it is such a personal history, you hesitate to question it, and believe that where it may or may not be factually accurate, it is emotionally authentic.

And I don't know if it's because I have some cultural references that make it all make sense, but in a really lovely way, this story felt familiar. Not in the sense of my having read it before, but as something that speaks to parts of me that I hold closest: heritage, family, and the places where I come from. But back to the prose. The book began to falter for me a little when we got to the heavy stuff, Covey's revelations of her history in the UK—the loneliness and isolation, the fate of her only friend, what happened to her in the factory. Most of those very weighty topics were dealt with in summary fashion, giving us very little of Covey's interior. Interior monologue in general was for me a little bit of a problem in this novel. Not that there was too much of it (I hardly ever have that complaint) but that what we did get felt almost shallow.

Byron was more likely to wax philosophical about the state of the world's oceans and Black kids in STEM than he was to pine for his ex-girlfriend or ruminate on the coming change in their lives; Benny shed some tears of regret for having missed her chance at saying goodbye to her father but after almost a decade of silence, struggled almost not at all to share with her brother why she had missed that chance (the reason being pretty darn huge, I thought); and the reconciliation between Benny and Byron happened with a conversation and a hug, and no further thought by either of them about what they had lost before that reconciliation occurred.

I felt something for these characters (particularly Benny and Byron) because their circumstances demanded that we feel something for them. But it felt distant. I didn't feel a particularly strong stake in whether or not at the end they got what they were looking for. Which brings me to the end—a little too pat, with the final chapters being among the shortest and most summarized of the entire book. There was little opportunity for the reader to 'sit with' and truly feel the characters' (Benny, Byron and Marble specifically) new revelations and realities. It was almost like, "and they lived happily ever after."

Having said all that, I did enjoy this book immensely and especially appreciate and respect that the author took the bold step of telling this story in the way that she told it—without regard for some of the predictable criticisms about her ignoring traditional literary conventions. It's a new day in literature, and I for one welcome all the new voices, like this one. Looking forward to more from Charmaine Wilkerson.

I struggled with all the trauma in Black Cake. There was so much. The book was well written but I had to stop at multiple times to pause and process the pain everyone was enduring or had endured.

This is a multilayered plot of family secrets.

Byron and Benny are called by their mother's lawyer after her death to go through her will the way she wanted it done. There are a lot of stories to get them to the end and they learn some startling family secrets in those stories.

This is a book about healing family relationships after the death of a loved one. There are a lot of big feelings and a lot of guilt processing in this book while the story unfolds.

There are many heavy topics that are touched on that may make this a difficult read for some people. It is very well written and engages the reader through the entire book.