Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson was a wild ride. Traveling back and forth in time and between people, two grown children learn about their mother’s past through her recorded oral history. In this novel, we learn about this family’s secrets, cultural histories, and just so many things. Continue reading to get my hot take on this new novel by Charmaine Wilkerson.

Narration
I’ll be honest at first, the jumping between points of view was initially distracting. Eventually, it became integral to the narrative. Eleanor, the late mother of Byron and Benny, and her audio recordings narrative much of Black Cake. In the recordings, she reveals aspects of her and her family’s past. I think the fact that much of this is through an oral history justifies what might seem like unorganized jumping around in time and tangents about random people. This is the recollection of a woman who lived a full life full of secrets and traumatic events; a person will not perfectly lay out their entire history. I know when I tell stories, I often jumble and confuse the narrative.

I think this narration style also helps to reflect the emotions and confusion of Eleanor’s children Byron and Benny. The siblings that were once so close are coming together after years of estrangement. In addition, they are now facing the revelations of what their family’s true history was. What might seem to be at times a jarring narrative really works well to situate yourself in this family’s shoes.

Pace
I admit Black Cake was at times a slow read, but not necessarily a bad way. This is not a book filled with action that keeps you flipping the pages. It is a slow burn as you are taken through this family’s history. I think it also helps you experience it the same way Byron and Benny are experiencing their mother’s audio recording. It takes them several days and sittings to go through and process what their late mother is telling them.

Plot
I think Wilkerson did a great job of weaving in the different aspects of cultural identity and belonging (or not) as we traveled through an unnamed Caribbean island, to the UK, Italy, and eventually the US. I enjoyed seeing how historical (and present) issues such as race, sexuality, and ethnicity are present in Eleanor’s story, as well as the experiences of Byron and Benny. The incorporation of the black cake was an interesting focal point of Black Cake, which lends itself to the importance of culture to this novel.

I suppose one drawback from the plot would be the ending, which did seem to tie up too neatly. The number of people who were still living at the end surprised me. Not that there is murder or war, but this is a multi-generational narrative. Some people I would have expected to have died of natural causes as was the case with Eleanor.

Overall
While it did tie itself up too neatly for some, I think the overall story worked for me. I did enjoy Black Cake as a casual read. It did take some time to get through – not due to being bored, but just by the natural progression of the novel. Wilkerson did address important social issues that I think always have a place in narratives. While stories are supposed to take us away from the world, we cannot forget them. If you get the chance, I strongly recommend you read Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.

I am honestly not sure if I can accurately put into words how I feel about this book. I originally rated it 4.75 stars but honestly, it's been like 2 weeks and I'm still thinking about it, so I should probably bounce that up to a full 5 stars. This is really saying something, since there's a lot of historical fiction to it and that's one of my least favorite genres.

Charmaine Wilkerson just wrote this book so beautifully. From the mix of past and present tenses, different POVs, different cultures.... everything blended so perfectly. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. I will definitely be looking for future releases from her.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story and I am shocked it is a debut! I thought the history of the family was really fascinating and kept me engaged, but I felt that the story could have been a lot more immersive with vivid descriptions of the surroundings of the island, the other locations throughout the book, and especially the foods (especially since the title was a type of food).

I loved this book! I don’t think this is a book I would have picked up on my own. Sadly I tend to judge book by their covers and this cover isn’t like the ones I typically choose. I also don’t gravitate toward literary fiction, but since I was invited to preview this book I downloaded it. It had been sitting on my kindle for quite awhile before I gave it a chance. I absolutely loved it! I loved going back in time and learning Eleanor Bennett’a story. I loved how the relationship between B&B ebbed and flowed. I loved the various settings which made me want to visit the Caribbean. The ending tied everything together nicely and gave me a feeling of contentment and happiness. Highly recommend!

This has been sitting on my shelf since it came out last year, and after seeing @bookedwithbecca rave about this audiobook I knew I needed to listen to. I loved the audio. You get several different perspectives throughout, and I loved how the narrators were able to make those different perspectives stand out since we were switching between them + the past/present pretty quickly.

We start out with two siblings, Byron and Benny, who are estranged and come together to execute their mother's final wishes. Her wish? She has made a recording of things that she hasn't been able to explain before for them to listen to, and leaves them a black cake for when the time is right. This book reminded me a lot of The Vanishing Half. I think that was because of the mysteriousness surrounding Eleanor's life.

This book is immersive, and such a good mix between focusing on the plot or focusing on the characters. I felt like the characters were real, and there were times when I absolutely loved them, but also times were I wanted to shake them and ask them WHATTTTTT are you doing?

I do wish that I knew more about Byron and Benny - don't get me wrong you do learn a lot about their circumstances and why things are the way they are, but I would have loved to learn more about them. Outside of their mother dying, outside of them being estranged, just more of them being them.

4.75 stars. What a compelling, layered, well written family saga. The back & forth between timelines and characters, the short chapters, the secrets, and the breadcrumbing was just so dang good. I saw someone compare the chapters to choppy waves, and I totally agree. I think the beginning is a littleeee slow, but once I got hooked, I couldn’t stop listening. Audio was pretty good, though I think print would’ve been just as effective for me.

Anyway. I really loved my reading experience of this one. If you’re into family stories, this is a good pick.

BLACK CAKE by Charmaine Wilkerson is an exquisite, deeply imagined and lovingly written novel that spans countries, generations, and new identities, tied together by a cherished black cake.

This novel covers so much - family, friendship, identity, loss, love, transformation, redemption, forgiveness - and does it all so very well. The writing is enchanting and beautiful from start to finish. Wilkerson builds a detailed world of characters that you will miss after the last page. I loved Bunny and Covey, Benny and Byron. It was a joy to watches stories unfold and collide, to see how ancestors impacted characters in unexpected and beautiful ways.

BLACK CAKE is a treasure and I'd recommend it whole-heartedly! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Wow wow wow.

What an absolutely incredible book. I don’t even know where to begin with reviewing it because it was just magical.

This will be a favorite book of mine and for sure one I would recommend to anyone and everyone. I must now go buy a physical copy because I need to have this on my shelf.

The main theme of hope. In every aspect and part of this story there is just hope. Hope surrounds all the tragedy and love brings it all together in the end. I cannot even put in to words how much I loved this.

I could not get into this one. It just seemed like another one about a mom dying(or grandma as some do) and the children learning secrets that may or may not devastate them.
The learning about the culture was ok. I like doing that. But the storyline just did not make me love it. I know I’m in the minority about this but I have to be honest. I just didn’t like it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Black Cake is a rich family saga that is beautifully written. At the reading of their mother’s will, a brother and sister learn about secrets that send them on a journey to unravel their mysterious past. Entertaining and thoughtful, this book is as rich as the black.cake that is at the center of the book.

I really enjoyed this family story that unfolds after Benny and Byron’s mom dies. She left an audio recording about her life and the siblings discover many secrets they didn’t know. The characters were well-developed and I loved learning about the culture of the unnamed Caribbean island that is central to the novel.

This book was everywhere in 2022, and deservedly so! I was worried it would not live up to the hype but it did. It was beautifully written and poignant--it made me laugh and cry and want to hug all my loved ones tightly. I also loved all the passages about food. Highly recommend!

Absolutely loved this one. Very good story. It took me a while to get into it, and I wish I had started it sooner!!

📚📚 BOOK REVIEW🌟 🌟 💫

An interview by debutant author Charmaine Wilkerson about going deep into her Caribbean roots to derive inspiration for her novel triggered me to pick up the book- a book long in my TBR. And I am glad I did. The book is a homage to family values and culture and drawn through the eyes of Eleanor Bennett and her last audio tape to her children. Also left behind is the last piece of a black cake made from family recipe. The king fighting their inner turmoils and try to mend broken relations- piece together a rather unknown past of their mother’s life- a journey which starts by escaping a murder charge to being molested at work- from reacquainting with lost love and friends to eventually reconnecting with an estranged child.

Through POVs of Eleanor, Benny and Bryon- the author attempts to highlight multiple issues- lives of immigrants, LGBTQIA, racism, workplace hardship, police brutality. The view points are varied and largely entertaining and to the author’s credit, the drive to fulfill the mother’s final wish holds the emotional story together. Loved it.

#NetGalley #BlackCake#RandomHousePublishingGroup #BallantineBooks

Black Cake is a wedding cake in Jamaica that takes months to make. All titles have a special meaning behind them. In the story, the couple was unable to have a wedding cake and so they celebrated every year with having a black cake for their anniversary. They have their children have the last black cake while their will was being read. That’s how the title blends in to the store. The true story is so much deeper. How a woman escapes from Jamaica and makes a life for herself and what she had to go through. How a man leaves Jamaica to go to college in the UK and how the couple grow and raise a family and reconnect. How their children never know their true heritage or history of their parents until it’s too late. I feel so many of us don’t know our parent’s stories.

Black Cake is an incredibly moving, poignant story. I cannot believe it is the author’s debut novel! A bit slow to start but by the time I hit the halfway point I couldn’t put it down. The ending really got me. Loved it!

As a Caribbean woman, this story really resonated with me. The writing was beautiful and even though the story is not the happiest one, it kept me interested.

This family's story is one that will stay with me for a long time.

Estranged siblings Benny and Byron are reunited to bury their mother, and hear her last will which will unravel decades of family secrets, reveal strength and perseverance, and bring them together to share the last of their mother's Black Cake when the time is right.

The first time I sat down with Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, I couldn't get into it. So, I set it down and moved on with my TBR. Recently, I picked it back up - much later than I should have - to give it another shot, and I loved it. I connected with Benny especially, but also Byron and Covey much more than I did the first time. Black Cake ties often taken for granted family traditions, living up to others expectations, and learning that parents are just people too, that have their own life stories in a way that's hard to put down... Well, the second time anyway.

Thanks to Charmaine Wilkerson, her publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest, albeit extremely late, review.

So. I'm really not sure how I feel about this one. I initially passed on it when it was first a BOTM offering because it didn't sound like my cup of tea. But after seeing many favorable reviews for it, I dug the netgalley offering out of my inbox and decided to give it a try.

Well. Part of me thinks that my initial assessment was correct and this just wasn't for me. But I don't think that's ~entirely~ correct. I liked the base of this story (Benny and Byron and the reading of the will) but I just didn't love how everything else was presented. There were just a few too many characters by the end and a few too many bits that just felt unnecessary.

I liked the core of this story. I liked hearing the tape and seeing how it affected everyone. But I wish this would've just stayed in the present? Because once it went back and started following Covey, that's honestly where it lost me. So I guess dual timelines just aren't my thing (because this isn't the first time I've had this problem).

So. I liked what this was trying to do. It was just the execution that didn't really work for me. I also wish this would've whole assed one thing because it definitely tried to half ass a lot of things. It should've just stuck to the kids and the main story instead of trying to pick up every little thread it came across. By the last 100 or so pages, I was just ready to be done. There were so many chapters that I had to fight to get through. This should've finished with the tape and called it a day.

So. I didn't really love this but I didn't hate it either? I guess I landed somewhere in the middle. But I also wish I would've stuck with my gut and not picked it up. This is a wildly unhelpful review. I am so sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyed the twists and turns and learning about the culture. One of my favorites of the year.