Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy.

Black Cake is a super hyped up book and with good reason. I enjoyed so much the journey that Wilkerson takes us on as we witness the relationship between Byron and Benny. Get to this one now!

What a beautiful multigenerational family saga. I loved the way it dipped back and forth between people and places, and how it gave a taste of the lives of Caribbean immigrants.

I know SO many people loved this book. Unfortunately, it was just not for me. There were so many characters, and the story was told in such a fragmented way, that I just couldn't get my feet under me.

A family drama, told from multiple perspectives, slowly unravels and pieces a bit of a mystery together. For readers that like to be kept in the dark while a story unravels around the reader, you should give this story a try.

I regret that I did not read this book sooner. I read it in 2 settings. Outstanding read!!! The characters in this book come full circle. Read this book now. Do not make the mistake I did. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

This was my kind of book! A multigenerational tale spanning multiple countries and decades and propelled by family secrets. Woohoo. Would recommend to other readers of family stories.

Wow. There are so many layers here to uncover from family issues, to societal, race, love and lost ect. It was so beautifully well written. A must read

I can't believe there is not a recipe for black cake in this book! I know I can google one, but this book makes you definitely want to try black cake, as well as any of your own family comfort foods.

Black Cake is about secrets and woven stories and never really knowing who people are.

THis book was awesome. It told the story of Eleanor Bennet. After Eleanor passed she left a recording for her two children to listen too.THe story it tells of a girl who made her way from the onmly home she had to where she was the day she died. Her children will be shocked to know the secrets their parents held from them. THe one thing that doesnt change for them is the Black Cake their mother shared wiht them.
I was really into this story. I couldn't put the book down.

Although I am not normally a fan of changing perspectives where all storylines meet a common end, I really enjoyed this book.

This was magnificent. I don't know if my words are adequate to describe its richness, any more than I could describe the taste of a cake I'm not likely to ever get to taste. I even searched for recipes. But none seemed right. Charmaine Wilkerson is a magical author and I am so looking forward to more from her! All in all, I was sad when i turned the last page -- hungry for it to go on!

Black Cake is a fantastic story with many family secrets throughout several generations. Eleanor Bennett has died and leaves behind a recording and a recipe for her two estranged sons in hopes that they will understand some of the secrets in the past. I loved the book and found it hard to believe it is Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel. I will definitely be reading more from her.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. .

Fiction | Adult
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When estranged siblings return home to bury their mother, they learn startling and life-changing truths about her life and theirs, shattering their trust in all they have believed. Byron and Benny (Bennedetta) Bennett haven’t seen each other since before their father died five years ago. Their mother Eleanore leaves a recording, and a frozen container of the family’s beloved black cake, with instructions the two are to listen to the recording together, and when the time comes, to share the cake. “You’ll know,” she says mysteriously. As the recording plays, Benny and Byron are shocked at the revelations and secrets she discloses, learning their parents had been running from the law, and that the family stories they’d been told were carefully constructed ones. In a tale that takes the reader back more than half a century to a Caribbean isle, and then across the Atlantic, Wilkerson gently and sensitively addresses themes of race, sexism, loyalty, love, grief, identity and even cultural appropriation in food. It’s an ambitious tale, and while it occasionally pushes the boundaries of credulity, Wilkerson, a journalist by trade, stickhandles the topics exceptionally well, especially for a debut novel, though she does tend to overexplain on occasion. Her research, outlined in an afterword, is exceptional. I particularly enjoyed the discussions of the food diaspora, the Caribbean history of migration, and Benny’s struggle to find acceptance and her place in the world and in her family. The narrative shifts point of view and time, so you need to read those chapter headings carefully. It’s hard to classify this, as it’s both historical and contemporary, and there’s even a murder mystery. While it’s for an adult audience, there is crossover appeal for older teens, as some key incidents happen to characters in their teens and twenties. I anticipate some awards for this first novel, and enjoyed it to the very end. My thanks to Ballantine Books for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. You’ll also find a copy on the adult fiction shelves, and in the e-collection, at the Grand Forks & District Public Library.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57926137

Fantastic story about the bonds of friends and family. All of the characters are rich in their uniqueness and still relatable. I am grateful to have read an early copy. This book will be amazing for book club discussion. The brother sister relationship is probably my favorite aspect of the story.

I heard prior to starting this book that some readers found it difficult to follow the story due to the number of characters & although I agree, the story ended up great.

I loved the connection with family. I especially enjoyed the challenges that this family faced due to their color. Very thought provoking. Definitely out of my wheel house on genre, so I am glad I read this one.

Black Cake was so delicious! The writing was absolutely beautiful and the story was so compelling. The characters are unforgettable and I will be telling everyone about this book for a long time!

It took me a minute to get into this book, but then I enjoyed the story of Covey, it was well-written and interesting, and I thought the character development and the sense of place was great. I found the last 1/3 of the book difficult to get through. There were two issues that made this a struggle for me (1) It seemed that the author tried to cover every possible social issue. I highly suspect that the author and I align on these issues, but I would have preferred a deeper dive into one or maybe two. (2) There was too much coincidence bringing people together. Clearly, based on other reviews I have seen for this book, many people loved it. I am in the camp of liking it. I recommended this book to my book club, I will be interested to hear their opinions.

I thought the writing of this book was exceptional, but I wasn't as captivated with the novel as I was with the mother's story, or the daughter's story as a young girl, escaping from the island. It felt like too many pieces, too many characters, and too many storylines that I couldn't quite get invested in the story as a whole. Beautiful writing, however, and a really fascinating look into a culture I had otherwise been ignorant of.

In 2018, after their mother Eleanor’s death, estranged siblings Byron and Benedetta “Benny” Bennett return to their California home for the memorial and to heed Eleanor’s final requests: that they listen together, in an attorney’s presence, to a recording Eleanor made in her last days, and sit down to share their mother’s traditional rum-soaked black cake when the time is right. After years of mutual hurt involving them and their late parents, Byron and Benny are wary of one another. They’re also unsure of their own paths forward. Byron, an African American oceanographer and TV personality, has endured a bad breakup, while Benny had distanced herself for serious personal reasons. Eleanor’s account dredges up mysteries from her youth and shakes up everything her children believed about their family.

This scenario may sound contrived, but it’s surprisingly easy to buy into because of how well the characters and their relationships are fleshed out. As Eleanor begins unspooling a tale about a young woman named Covey, a talented swimmer growing up on an unnamed Caribbean island in the ’60s, Byron and Benny are skeptical about its relevance. But the less said about the plot, the better, save that it spans miles and continents across decades and delves into themes of survival, exile, and the deep flavor of one’s heritage.

To call Black Cake innovatively layered is understating things. While the story may seem like it bounces between people and eras without a discernible pattern, soon you’ll realize that this talented debut author has her recipe under perfect control. A few pages here, a full chapter there, all added at just the right time. The revelations keep coming; by the end, every question is answered and then some. Eleanor is a marvel of a protagonist, and just like its subject, Black Cake is a satisfying dish worth sharing with others.

(from the Historical Novels Review, May 2022)

The writing style didn’t work for me. It was disjointed and had no flow. I really wanted to read this as I love a story about family and food envelopement.

What a lovely book and incredible story. A bit long but beautifully written. I love how she revealed the big events of the plot through short chapters as the past and present is woven together.