This was an amazing story about family and loss and secrets. I loved the beauty of ancestry, legacy and heritage that are strongly present throughout the entire narrative and the gorgeous characters the author created that were so alive and so easily became enmeshed in my thoughts. What I didn't love was, what I am seeing more and more often now, is the modern social commentary added into the plot that feels very gratuitous and almost like an afterthought, as it doesn't seem to be subtly woven through the story. It feels more like a ball that comes out of nowhere and hits you in the head and leaves you wondering what on earth just happened. But barring that, if you love books that span generations, this is a book definitely worth the read.

Upon the death of their mother, Eleanor Bennett, Byron and Benny learn that not all is as it seems. Their mother recorded her history and the secrets she's been hiding for decades all due to a murder. Eleanor fled from her Caribbean homeland to seek a new life after a murder takes place and she is implicated. All that remains is the black cake--a family recipe as old as time and specialty of their mother's--and the recording.

At the same time, Byron and Benny, once close siblings, became estranged and live faraway from each other. Now they must come together and follow their mother's request to share the black cake. As uncomfortable as the prospect is, what their mother reveals could prove more awkward and upsetting.

By chance, I received this book, and the cover was intriguing with its swath of bright colors and unusual title. I like reading books that may be foreign from my usual fare, and it sounded like a good premise. I truly believe that this book will be a huge hit and end up on the end-of-year list of best books for 2022. I loved it.

Throughout the book, common themes weave the multiple plotlines like the black cake itself, the ocean, and family, both biological and chosen. It works so well, and the language is beautiful yet simple. The author vividly describes the Caribbean, California, and many other places in full detail. You may want to visit the more tropical locales once you read about them.

I immediately responded to all the characters and their individual predicaments and wanted to return to them as much as I could. The story swept me away right from the start, and although there are many characters and aliases to track, I did not feel like I needed to keep score. At first, you may not recognize the character, but then keep reading, and you'll discover who it is.

This book was touching and covered a lot about the history of areas in the Caribbean. It's so surprising the backgrounds of the residents there, including immigrants from China, that not everyone would know about. It also touches on so many social issues from contemporary to historical that you'll discover within the stories populating the book.

This debut novel was one of the most poignant reads in the past year that I’ve read. A beautiful story of love, loss, and secrets all wrapped together by a beautiful reverence for food and the tradition it brings. This novel was hard to get into at first due to the changing timelines and learning all of the characters names. Once that story unfolds however, the novel grips you until you finish.

Benny and Byron's family fell apart one Thanksgiving. Benny lives her authentic life in NYC, leaving her family on the west coast to move on with their lives without her. Byron is angry when Benny doesn't even show up for their father's funeral. Benny was planning on calling her Ma back; there was something in her voice in that last voicemail. Unfortunately, she would never get the chance because she gets the call that it's too late. Her mother is gone, but she left a video message for her and Byron.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Black cake masterfully blends perspective, past, and present to tell the story of a group of islanders from the Caribbean tied together through love, schemes, murder, secrets, and black cake. This story spans the globe from the island to the UK, Canada, and the United States.

Some of my most vivid memories revolve around family recipes, so this book really touched my heart. This book will bring your most delicious family memories gathered in the kitchen to the surface. Wilkerson is a skilled storyteller, with so many branches of the tale, I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened to everyone.

Black Cake is a book that started with an ending, a death, to give us a story of family, love, culture and allows us to soak it all in like the rum Black Cake of it's Caribbean heritage. It's an unexpected story that will have you following along the life of Eleanor as she tells it to her living children after her death.

Benny and Byron are two estranged siblings that end up coming together after the death of their mother, Eleanor. The last time these two spoke was before their father died over 5 years ago. They were once close as children, but they grew apart and made vastly different choices about their lives. Now, with their mother telling her the story of her life, they are forced to listen and put together the pieces of her life in order to understand their past and where they go with their future.

The beginning of the book took me a bit to get into and understand it. This is a story told in multiple POVs in short chapters, so you have to pay attention. Once you get past the first quarter of the story, the timelines and the people become more clear. You will be sitting with Benny and Byron and following along on the journey of their mother's past. And it isn't pretty. It's heartbreaking and filled with choices no one should ever have to make for the sake of their livelihood. It's a story of the Caribbean, European influences, racial differences, family, creating an identity and culture that is so ripe with food and the importance of the Black Cake within her family.

Between the heartbreaking story of Eleanor's life that she shares with her children after her death, to her finding a happiness she thought she lost, at the core of this story is love. Love for her children. Love for her husband. Love for her life. But there are many layers to her story that not even her husband knew. And her children and her friend are left to pull it all together.

I commend Charmaine Wilkerson for taking such a difficult story and making it something that is beautiful and moving. Eleanor was a powerful woman that had choices taken away from her, but even in death, her children found peace and love with what she left them. The strength and resilience that woman had to have to survive every day was something that she instilled in her children whether they realized it or not.

If you're interested in a story that is rich in culture and can appreciate a story that goes back and forth between POVs and timelines, this is a book you should definitely check out. I want to discover more with who Eleanor left behind and I would love to try her Black Cake as it became a very important "character" throughout. Because at the end of the day....'untold stories shape people's lives, both when they are withheld and when they are revealed.'

On its face, Black Cake is a multigenerational family drama about two siblings learning for the first time of their mother’s history. However, it’s much more than that, exploring rich Caribbean tradition, complex relationships, survival, friendship, food, and the sea. Without giving too much away, this book really hit its stride around the 25% mark and I was hooked from then on. However, the beginning was a bit complex and slow for me. By the end of this book, I felt compelled to explore my own family history and record my traditions. And of course, I want to try the titular Black Cake. I absolutely loved these characters and this story will stick with me for a long time.

Just finished reading this book and I really enjoyed it. The story was very interesting and it all wrapped up well. There were a few spots where it bogged down a little, but just for a short time. I found myself looking forward to having time to read during the day, and not just at my usual bedtime! Thank you NetGalley for opportunity to read this.

* Received a copy for review.* Although the writing is good, the story structure made this a tough one for me to finish.
The story is a good one but there are some unnecessary extra story lines that took away from the heart of this book.
This book will be a hot with some but it was just not what I had hoped it would be.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this beautifully written debut novel Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.

Byron and Benny are estranged siblings brought back together after the death of their mother Eleanor. Eleanor leaves behind a voice recording which explains her upbringing and takes her children on a journey from the Caribbean, to London, and to California. Byron and Benny thought they knew their mother and the whole history behind her famous black cake. They had no idea the life she lived before they were born and discovering her past will help them to understand more about their own history.

I loved getting to know the characters in this book. The chapters alternated between the past and present quite a bit, but I never had a hard time keeping up. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about families lost and found, secrets, and overcoming obstacles.

I know it's very early in the year, but I think it's safe to say that this will be one of my top books of 2022. And what a fantastic debut this was for Charmaine Wilkerson! The characters we are introduced to at the very beginning of this story are much different people by the end due to the events that we see unfold and it felt very seamless. The author does an amazing job of telling stories pertaining to each character that ties into the bigger picture.

Lots of heartbreak was felt through the story with hard topics such as rape and family hardships that really drove home to Benny and Byron, the children of the main character, that their parents faced many challenges to help their kids get to the level of success they find themselves at in the present time. We find out early on in the story that Benny hasn't spoken to her mother in almost 8 years after speaking her truth to her parents at Thanksgiving and it is so heartbreaking to see what occurred during their time of separation that would have brought the characters back together sooner. I also enjoyed the undertones of climate change the author included in this story and I think it ties in well to current day climate changes that we see transpiring.

Fans of shorter chapters in regards to remaining engaged within the story will be happy to know that most chapters only spanned one to two pages, which I found to be wonderful! I look forward to seeing who they cast for the upcoming Hulu show. If you get the opportunity to read this story, don't hesitate!

Estranged siblings Benny & Byron come together after the death of their mother, Eleanor Bennett, for the inheritance she left them = a voice recording and traditional Black Cake. Told during multiple time periods, you get a front row seat to the secrets Benny & Byron are hearing for the first time as well as a beautifully and heartbreakingly descriptive story of Eleanor's life she escaped and recreated for herself. Between the beauty of this heartbreaking story is also the unraveling of multiple mysteries and plot twists. There were so many layers to unpack and so much history to breath in on the choices that were made and the challenges that were faced - ultimately shaping not only the matriarch of the family but generations to come. I was deeply moved by this stunning debut.

Shout out to Charmaine Wilkerson for her first novel Black Cake. I absolutely adored the format in which this book was written. Benny and Byron are siblings who have not seen each other in years, but are brought back together to listen to a voice recording their mother has left for them. Through this recording they learn things about their mothers past that they never knew.

In the book, Benny is defined by her sexual preference and unorthodox choices she makes. Byron is defined by his color. Their mother Covey, is a runaway bride accused of murder. She must leave her country, her family and change her name to save herself from the man her father sold her to.

This story has so much depth. It is about, family, culture, identity, abandonment, sexual abuse, acceptance, secrets, flawed people, but most important it is about love. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from the publisher through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I can see why Oprah has already acquired the rights to this and is supposed to be creating a Hulu show based on it.

After their mother dies Byron and Benny, estranged siblings, are brought together to listen to an audio that their mother insists they listen to together in the presence of her lawyer. In it she tells them the story of her past, and shares secrets that no one, not even her husband knew.

This story is steeped in history, mysteries and racial injustices. It is perfectly blended, intriguing, and lyrical. I was instantly captivated by the story and the intricacies of families. The petty grievances that keep people apart, the injustices we tolerate because we don't think we deserve better or don't want to rock the boat. The violence against women and the reality of men taking away a woman's power over and over.

I can't say enough about this book. As someone who grew up surrounded by Caribbean culture I can hear their lyrical voices, understand their traditions and was captured by the sounds of the sea. Do yourself a favor and add this to your reading list.

This was an incredibly heart wrenching generational family story. The character development was incredible. I felt like I was part of the family dissecting everything going on.

I also loved the back and forth timeline and how everyone’s story fit so seamlessly together.

i felt like this story was longer than it needed to be. If it was more condensed with less characters i would have enjoyed it a lot more.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The writing was excellent, the plot was engrossing. I found myself wanting to go visit this Caribbean island, just to get closer to the characters in the book, they were that real to me. I recommend it highly.

This debut novel from Wilkerson was such a great read. When Benny and Byron's mother dies, she leaves them instructions on how to go about her death. They realize throughout the process that they might not know as much about their mother as they thought. Wilkerson does a great job of weaving multiple characters and plot points together to create and interesting and powerful story of love, loss, and sacrifice.

I really wanted to love this book more then I did. It was incredibly slow paced. Normally I don’t mind that but a lot of the depth that should’ve been there felt missing. For example, how Marble couldn’t deal with meeting her new siblings and left immediately. Then it goes straight from her discussing things with her adoptive parents to being back with a month later with B&B. I would’ve liked to work through some of Marble’s emotions with her. Then I hardly found Byron likeable at all and I’m very familiar with people who become perfectionists who always do what they think their parents want, and I didn’t feel any of that normal turmoil with him. In fact, when it was chapters with his perspective, I almost liked him less and he seemed even more pretentious. Benny’s storyline was able to be the most connected with and was heartbreaking. Of course, Covey’s incredible story moved me as well. I think if I had connected to everyone instead of just half of them, I would’ve enjoyed this story much more.

A family drama that came out hot… and I was all in. And, then it fell flat on its face. It felt like the first bite a cake pulled out of the oven too soon. It lost me and quickly. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for this ARC!

I love family dramas, and I found this one to feel very relatable and unique. First of all, the writing and pacing was so unique that I kept smirking at how clever the author is to introduce a character and then create short chapters immediately around them. The flow was different, and although I enjoyed it, I can understand that the pacing may not be for every reader.

I really liked Benny's character and the storylines from the past began to draw me in around 1/4 of the way through the book. To me, this is a book that I read and savored. It's not a story I binged but rather one that I would read and think about and come back to later.

I think this book will make a lot of Best Of 2022 lists and I'm excited to see what the author writes next.