I enjoyed the premise of this book and really enjoyed the backstory in the earlier timeline. I felt like the current/present timeline started off okay but ended up a little bit of a mess toward the end, and I found myself only interested in the flashback parts.

Such a good book, I think people are gonna really love this one. Keep me wanting more the whole way through. Thank you!

At the risk of sounding super cheesy, this story is like a flower blooming…very slowly. It starts out small and stagnant and then the plotline blooms and becomes a very full experience. Overall, my sentiment is the story had a ton of promise and delivers in many areas but slightly misses the mark in others.

The writing, the characters and the story are wonderful. I really enjoyed the second half of the book as well as the ending. For me, the first half dragged as there was a lot of “setup” and not a lot of progression. A slow burn!

Another slight miss was the divergence from the central theme of identity. As the book progresses, more and more characters are introduced along with new complications. The plot tries to accomplish a lot. Unfortunately, these introductions sit stagnant in an aimless and jumbled mess for many chapters. In my opinion, this distracts from the initial focus. But by the end, everything is smoothed out in a satisfying (but not a “neat”) knot.

Some readers have complained of an overt racial agenda. I, actually, did not feel lambasted but instead felt the message was effectively woven into the plot.

I recommend to lovers of family saga dramas.

A reading note: don’t read this book until you have time to “get into it” at the beginning. I think, for me, this would’ve made a big difference in my opinion of the first half of the book.

Audible note: the narrator is very authentic with her accents and I loved that!

This book was a wonderful book that had me engaged from start to finish. I loved all the different directions that this story took me and how all the characters intertwine. It was a powerful novel of family, secrets, hope, and forgiveness. The latter part of the book dragged in pace a little for me, but it was still a gorgeously told, beautiful story.

This was a great book. When Eleanor dies, she leaves a Caribbean black cake and phone messages to her children Byron and Benny. As they start to investigate their mother’s life, they find a host of surprising secrets they weren’t expecting.
I got slightly confused with all the characters, but I really liked it. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cannot believe I didn't finish this book earlier this year because the writing is amazing and the character development especially when grieving was such a ride. For a debut novel, this is one of the best ones I've encountered thus far. I would rate this 4.5 stars.

When Eleanor Bennett passes away, it brings together her two children after not having contact with each other for several years. She leaves behind some audio recordings with a lawyer for her now grown children to listen to that starts revealing many things from her past that her children never knew about. Will the siblings come out of this stronger or strangers again?

This book was woven together in such a unique way, a story within a story. It also touched on several topics such as family, racism, trauma, politics, and more! I didn't know what to expect going into it, but I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Once I got to know who was who, I couldn't put this book down! There are so many layers to the story, and I really liked reading the different timelines and point of views from different family members.

This was such a great debut, and I can't wait to read more by Charmaine Wilkerson! I highly recommend this one especially if you're a fan of historical fiction, family sagas, or The Vanishing Half!

Unique novel with a clever plot tool, the reader learns about a mother's secrets through a recording after her death. I really enjoyed learning about these characters and their stories. The references and ties to black cake made it a perfect title. This was a well-crafted, interesting novel about families, secrets and the bonds that link us together.

A fantastic multi-generational family saga. Heartbreaking but hopeful - would totally recommend. Starts out slower/quieter but really picked up and I loved it.

LOVE LOVE LOVE, & I don’t even love family generational stories. This was so incredibly written. A++! Thank you for sending!

A beautiful, sweeping story that takes readers from the shores of Jamaica to the California coastline, with many stops in between. A memorable examination of identity, family, and the foods we carry through generations.

First, I absolutely LOVE this cover!! This story takes place in the West Indies, UK, and the States. This is an amazing story of young girl who has to be strong and resilient while escaping one part of her life to start a new one in a new country with no family or friends. As soon as you think you've figured out what is going to happen next, another turn of events takes place, leaving you wanting to keep reading! Throughout the main character's life she has had to sacrifice her entire being to make sure her family would be safe and her never knowing the real woman she was. Such a great story of resilience, perseverance, love, family, and redemption. Oh and don't forget about the black cake!
I highly recommend!

The mom's story and all the chapters in 1950s/60s Jamaica were so strong. I also enjoyed Benny's character and her journey throughout the book. The beginning and the end gripped me so much that made up for some of the tangents in the present-day storyline in the latter half of the book. The brother's character felt stiff and distant at times and I didn't feel like the events of racial profiling and the workplace equality lawsuit seamlessly fit in with everything else going on. Of course, police brutality and microaggressions at work should be discussed in literature especially now but by the third mention, they seemed shoehorned in. I did enjoy his connection to science and surfing and how in both he felt out of place as a black man. I empathize as I worked in a lab for some time in college and the STEM classes are still predominantly white. Everything was wrapped up nicely and I know my Jamaican mother and grandmother would love and appreciate this book.

I adored this novel. I loved unpacking the complicated and tangled storylines, and I would absolutely compare the richness of this novel to the Black Cake mentioned in the story itself. It's bursting with flavor complexities; fruit, rum, and sugar all combined to make something delicious, but it needs to be baked just right or it can come out a soggy mess. I for one think this entire book was baked just right. Charmaine Wilkerson's “Black Cake” represents history, both culturally and personally, that carries the blood sweat and tears of a woman. There were so many good quotes about identity, loss, family, forgiveness, understanding, and expectations that I wanted to highlight and keep in my pocket.

The story follows siblings Byron and Benny as they try to understand the mother they have lost - brought together again at their mother's funeral. You’ll be transported across decades and the globe as long-buried secrets of their family are revealed. Delightfully juicy and stunningly wise, it's a winner.

Thank you Ballantine Book and NetGalley for this amazing arc!

What a gorgeous book! I loved this family saga told in multiple POV so you really got to know each character and empathize with them. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Siblings Byron and Benny Bennett, after losing contact for years, return to their parents' home following the passing of their mother, Eleanor. Eleanor's lawyer shares something left behind, revealing the past of the woman who raised them - and they see in a different light.

Touching upon past trauma, racism, weight of family expectation, sexual identity and acceptance, rape, and more - Black Cake navigates through their journeys. Charmaine Wilkerson's story draws you in and you become entranced in the multi-generational journey.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books and Netgalley. This is a must read!

Love, love, love! I can’t say enough about this book. I went into it not knowing what to expect, but hoping for something different than my usual reads, but maybe a little familiar, and boy did it deliver.

Black Cake is charming, funny, soulful, and full of interesting history I never knew. It’s also sad, heartbreaking, and a blunt reminder of how far our country still has to go.

I thought Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson, was beautifully written. I thought the multiple POV and short chapters was done well, and enjoyed how everything tied together in the end.

Definitely feel like this one will be one of the buzziest family dramas of the year. While it’s fairly standard fare for those kinds of books, the set-up and how the author leads us through the story with the recorded conversations from Eleanor makes for a fast paced read - it helps propel the reader forward through the story, because you just want to know more, and more, and more of the secrets she’s revealing to the children. I only wish that there had been more focus on both Eleanor after her early years and Byron - I felt like I only got small snippets of their lives, and wasn’t able to connect to them further along into the book. Wilkerson did write a lovely ending, and I’m excited to see what she writes next - hopefully with a bit more fleshed out characters.

This phenomenal story looks back and the amazing struggle of a mother that she kept from her children until after her death. Told through recordings as part of the mother's will, we hear her story and also her children's reactions.