An excellent family saga exploring the Caribbean diaspora. Deeply propulsive and feels like a complex puzzle. A great launchpad for discussion.

A story of family drama and overcoming differences. This family is filled with harmful feels towards each other and they continue to grow with a lack of communication. The family dynamics are strained and harmful to all involved.

This book will stick with me. The depth of it. The stories told within it. The characters - oh the characters. I fell in love with them all. Just when you thought you might have things connected, the connection was wrong. Just when you thought you might have the story put together, wrong again. Wow! Just wow!

Time and time again, you are brought into the lives of Covey and Benny, best friends, and swimming extraordinaries. However, the path and journey each life contains is so different.

Their story is told to Byron and Benny, estranged siblings, brought together because of their mother’s passing. Their mother has left them recordings of her life, the life that these two don’t know, the story of the mother they thought they knew.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson was a beautiful, sweeping saga that I devoured!
The writing is so phenomenal- gorgeous! I was engaged from the first line to the last in this story that takes us on this journey of discovery. I loved the different story lines and characters and watching the mystery of it all play out.
This will definitely have a place as one of my favorite reads of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

I rarely read ARC’s because I don’t like to feel like I have to read a book by a certain deadline. I am very much a mood reader and just pick a book based on how I feel at that moment and I don’t plan my books in advance. But when I got an email from the publisher telling me about this book and that I had already been pre-approved to read it I was excited to check it out.

The book is told from several different viewpoints, but it is never confusing and you always know who the book is following. The book also is told in a past/present timeline which is one of my favorite types of books. The book takes place in mostly the Caribbean, California, and the UK, but includes other locales too.

All of the characters are flawed, but in a way that feels relatable and real. I never felt that I truly hated any of the main characters even if at times I was frustrated with them. Wilkerson weaves a narrative spanning 50+ years, but it is so cohesive. I will be interested to see what this author does in the future.

I just wish this book would have had a recipe for the black cake mentioned so much in the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine books for this ARC. Publishing date is February 1st, but also a BOTM pick for January!

Black Cake Review

4.5⭐️

Black Cake is a wonderfully written story about family ties and long lost secrets. I loved the way the different timelines and characters unfolded in a way that still made them mesh together beautifully.

Each character was real, and I loved seeing Byron and Benny learn more about their mother and be in awe of her strength.

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC.

This was a very slow read-- 15 days for me. I rate it 3.5 stars rounded up. It is the story of "Covey' Coventina Lyncook, born on an unnamed Caribbean island. Her father gets into major debt to a loan shark and agrees to marry her in order to pay off his debt. But Covey doesn't want to marry him. How she escapes and her subsequent life of hardship,pain and determination to survive is told in flashbacks, between the present day and her travels to Britain and then the US. There is no graphic violence. But there is a rape, not graphically described. The racism encountered by the characters in the book is also described. The descriptions of life on the island were very interesting.
There is a central theme of baking the traditional Caribbean "Black Cake."
Two quotes:
On life "The oceans are a challenge, Mitch thinks. And what about a person's life? How do you make a map of that? The borders people draw between themselves. The scars left along the ground of one's heart."
Swimmers: "If Covey moved like a dolphin, then Bunny was like one those giant turtles you heard about that were capable of crossing the world without losing their way."
Thanks to the author and Ballantine Books for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#BlackCake #NetGalley.

3.5 ⭐️rounded up to 4
Black cake is not typically the type of book I enjoy reading however I did enjoy this book much more than expected. The writing style is what really made me stick with the book. The writing style brought the characters, scenes, and places all together and made them come to life. It felt as if I was in the book with them watching the story unfold.

The story follows two siblings after the death of their mother. Both siblings listen to a recording left by their mother which has life altering information. Throughout the book family secrets and issues are discovered and shared.

The many different characters and storylines did make it difficult to attend to and keep track of, but I did still find interest in every character no matter how big or small. It was easy to lose track of what story belonged to which character with the constant introduction of new characters and short chapters. Overall, I would recommend the book for anyone wanting a slow read because you will have to pay careful attention to detail.

I am thankful for Netgalley & Random House/Ballantine for sharing this digital advanced copy with me in exchange for my honest review. This is scheduled to release 2.1.2022.

This book is a sweeping tale of love, loss, sacrifice, redemption, family, heartache, and joy. The story follows along two siblings Benny and Byron as they learn about the turbulent secretive past of their mother after her death. As a debut author, Charmaine Wilkerson blew me away with this epic story. I could not put it down. I had to know how things turned out. My first 5 star read for 2022. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. It was amazing.

This book begins with two sibings who return home upon the death of their Mother. As they go through the estate process they begin to learn alot of unknown history about their parents. While this book couild have gotten very heavy with the topics it discussed the momentum of the book was brisk and interesting. I do wish the author had included a black cake recipe as it is one the key characters of the book! This was a fascinating read and while not exactly historical fiction, it did give a detailed backstory of the island of Jamaica and the people who live there. Definitely a excellent read for 2022 book lists. Four Stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#BlackCake #NetGalley #CharmaineWilkerson #BOTM

It's difficult to give a review of Black Cake without giving away precious details that make this story the gem that it is, so I'll just say this: Black Cake is like a rose. Folding in and blossoming on itself, a beautiful, poignant exploration of identity and loss. Simultaneously tender and vulnerable, jaded and scorned, rife with complex characters and spanning decades... this is a story you cannot miss.

What a great story! Charmaine Wilkerson is one heck of a storyteller.
This book begins with the death of their mother Eleanor - leaving Byron and Benny with a lot of unanswered questions.
This book is a family saga and mystery all rolled into one.
There is so much to the story - so many levels of deception and lies. I was captivated by this family and all they had endured. Benny and Byron's parents' journey was one for the books.

Watching these 2 characters learn the truth about their family was sad but beautiful at times.
This is not my typical read but I totally enjoyed it.

Byron and Benny are siblings who have gone their own separate paths in life, but when their mother Eleanor passes away, she brings them together again with an audio recording that they are to listen to in the presence of her lawyer. Thus begins a story in which we follow Eleanor from the Caribbean to England and then the US, and along the way we also discover more about Byron and Benny and how they ended up where they are now.

I was really interested in the concept of this book — an intergenerational story about migration and identity. But the chapters are short and disjointed, and the thread of the story often gets lost in a jumble of leaps in time and changes in voice and perspective.

“And what about a person’s life? How do you make a map of that? The borders people draw between themselves. The scars left along the ground of one’s heart.”

A lyrically written, stunningly beautiful story. Black Cake took root in my soul, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Part family saga, part mystery, this story is riveting and evocative.

My grandmama’s signature pound cake was full of tradition and steeped in love. It was as much a part of our family as my cousin. Some of our best times were had sitting around a table with a slice of that cake. Eleanor’s black cake is much the same to her family…

Sadly, Eleanor Bennet succumbed to illness and is gone. But she’s left behind two important things for her children, a recorded message and one last black cake, chock full of tradition and heritage. What the children do not know is that there is much more to their legacy than they’ve ever been told before. This is a story of family secrets, overcoming, and learning to accept the people you love in their truest form.

As with the ideal cake, this book is perfectly layered and utilizes the highest quality of ingredients. The storyline hooked me from the beginning with its complexities and fast pace. The short chapters and dual timeline made it impossible for me to put this book down.

But the character development is really where Wilkerson shines. These multifaceted and flawed characters are ones that I wanted to share a slice of cake with and get to know more intimately. As the book progresses, the cast of characters continues to build. But about ¾ of the way through the book, I realized that when a new characters appeared, it was a welcome and wanted surprise. The new additions felt fresh and timely rather than heavy and unnecessary.

As we get to know the Bennets, we also get a broad picture of the world in which they are living and the societal struggles that they face (old and new). While Wilkerson touches on important issues in this story, it is done as relevant slice of life, never heavy handed.

This near perfect book should be enjoyed by EVERYONE. It certainly will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you Charmaine Wilkerson, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.

The premise of this book really intrigued me, but somehow, I just couldn't get into the story. The characters were interesting, but I felt the writing style just didn't really hook me. I wonder whether it would be more engaging as an audiobook, since the premise is good? Overall, an interesting story, just not quite for me.

I loved the premise of this family story, but the writing just didn't work for me. It felt choppy and disjointed and was hard for me to get into. I wonder if the audio would be a better option? Thank you so much for letting me give it a try!

Great family saga - a bit unbelievable in many parts, but it reads like a fable. Lots of great quotes and insight into the family history you know, and what you don't effects future generations. Covey Lyncook leads a double life - once a champion swimmer in the Caribbean, she finds herself a pawn in her father's desperate attempt to repay his debts to a local criminal boss. On her wedding day, the man dies (is murdered) and she is launched into a new life and later, a stolen identity. Years later after her death and her confession to her children, her son Byron says "That's the thing about false narratives that ultimately define your life. When you finally learn that you've been lied to for years by the people you've trusted the most, even when you can see why they might have done it, that awareness contaminates every other relationship you have." Black Cake is a story of a brother and sister who learn their parent's secrets after their deaths, and struggle to regain their footing in life after this big reveal. My only complaint about the story was in dragged in parts.

Not a typical book I read but I really enjoyed it. I recommend going in with an open mind and really enjoy it. Definitely a recommendation to all!

Thank you for allowing me to read the ARC of Black Cake. A beautifully told story of an intergenerational family with hopes, dreams, and secrets. I especially loved Covey's story and while I enjoyed the present day interweaving narrative, at times it felt redundant. 3.5 stars.

Wilkerson has written my favorite kind of a book: a multi-generational family saga filled with lovable flawed characters that spans decades and continents. The writing is beautiful but not overdone and the story hooked me immediately. I loved the interplay between the timelines and how as the reader, we walk alongside Benny and Byron as they process the emotional weight of their mother’s life and death. Wilkerson did a fantastic job exploring the sibling relationship and family dynamics. Her characters struggled with race, identity and belonging in each generation. I loved the history, the different locations and the fact that the ending was set in my hometown! (Shout out to the OC and the Wedge!)