Black Cake

Debut novelist Charmaine Wilkerson says that a younger relative's request for her mother's recipe for black cake got her started "thinking about inheritance and how we choose to keep some things closer to our hearts than others -- especially in a multicultural family like mine." She “never intended to write a story with a cake in it. It just sort of walked into the story.” And inspired the novel's title. Black cake is traditionally served at celebrations in the Caribbean and in Wilkerson's story it "symbolizes family bonds and memories in the face of significant loss, but also a multicultural history. . . . It is a source of joy. But also, it is the offshoot of a less-than-sanguine past."

Black cake figures into the story from the show more outset. The prologue takes readers to the shore of an island where a bride's abandoned wedding dress is smeared with black cake and lilac icing. Wilkerson depicts a father's anguish and regret, and at least two mysteries. Why would a bride leap up from a wedding feast and disappear into the bay? And could she still be alive, even though her father seems resigned to wait for her body to wash ashore?

Wilkerson immediately whisks readers to Los Angeles in 2018 where Byron, "the African American social media darling of ocean sciences," is about to be reunited with his younger sister, Benny. They were extremely close growing up, but eight years have passed since they last saw each other. Benny didn't even attend their father's funeral, after storming out of the house on a fateful Thanksgiving Day . . . and never returning. Their mother, Eleanor Bennett, texted Benny from time to time over the years, most recently to say, "Benedetta, please come home." Benny didn't return in time. Now Eleanor is dead, and "B and B," as their mother called them, are about to learn about their family history. Their mother recorded the eight-hour story over the course of four days. Her lawyer, Charles Mitch, informs them Eleanor expressly requested that they listen to the recording together -- in its entirety -- in his presence. He warns them to "be prepared" for what they are about to hear.

Eleanor also left a short hand-written note. "B and B, there's a small black case in the freezer for you. Don't throw it out. I want you to sit down together and share the cake when the time is right. You'll know when. Love, Ma." Byron thought his mother never made another black cake after Benny stormed out on that Thanksgiving, and he is shocked when he realizes that she made at least one more. As the recording begins, Byron and Benny are both stunned to hear Eleanor reference a sister they never knew existed. What were the circumstances of her birth? Who is she? Where has she been living all of their lives?

In short chapters, Wilkerson explores the lives of Byron and Benny from their perspectives -- key events during their childhoods, their dreams and regrets, and the bases for the decisions they have made up to the point in their lives at which they have come together to mourn their mother. Benny has just lost her job, while Byron has enjoyed great success in his career as an oceanographer, despite being passed over for the job of director of the institute with which he is affiliated. Neither has found a lasting personal relationship. Lynette, Byron's girlfriend, left him and they haven't spoken in three months. Benny has had a series of relationships and Wilkerson reveals that her sexual orientation was the cause of the rift with her father that was never resolved. Eleanor deferred to him in all things, for reasons Byron and Benny have never fully appreciated.

Interspersed are chapters in which the story of a girl named Covey emerges. She is being raised by her father, Johnny "Lin" Lyncock, on a Caribbean island. Lin owns shops, but drinks and bets on cockfights, finding himself in debt to Little Man, an island gang leader. Covey's mother, Matilda, and her best friend, Pearl, made black cakes with icing flowers that were "second to none" and sold them to residents for special occasions. But many of the island's "upper crust" believed Mathilda "had shown poor judgment" by having a child with Covey's Chinese-born father. One day Covey's mother disappeared with the assistance of a customer, and although Covey believed she would return or at least send for Covey, she never did and Covey has grown into a young woman.

Wilkerson details how "in the spring of 1965, Covey's life veered onto the path that would eventually connect her to Eleanor Bennett." It's a mesmerizing and emotionally resonant tale about Covey, and her life with her father, best friend Bunny, and the boy she falls in love with, Gibbs Grant. Covey's story is punctuated by dreams of her future, devastating heartbreak and loss, abuse, and choices no young woman should ever be forced to make. Not to mention an unsolved murder that overshadows every aspect of Covey's life for decades. It is also a commentary about the time period in which Covey grew up, and an illustration of how unbreakable and affirming friendships can be. Ultimately, it is a story of survival, resilience, and second chances.

Wilkerson deftly moves the story between the past and present, introducing intriguing new characters as she returns again and again to Eleanor's narrative, unraveling mysteries involving those characters at expertly-timed junctures. Each of Wilkerson's characters is developed fully and multi-dimensional. Aside from Little Man and his gang, there are no villains in her tale of a woman who did not share her truth with her children while she still had time and the myriad ways in which hearing the truth only after her death -- as well as the death of their father six years earlier -- impacts the children she loved boundlessly.

The pace of Black Cake never slackens as Wilkerson transports readers from modern-day Los Angeles, to the Caribbean more than fifty years ago, as well as London, Scotland, and Rome. She immerses readers in each location, conjuring each distinct locale's sights, sounds, smells, and culture, always bringing attention back to the three central players in the story. Benny is a thirty-six-year-old woman who has never learned to be comfortable in her own skin, always feeling that she is not living the life she was meant to create for herself but unsure about how to manifest her desires. As her mother's life story is revealed to her, Benny questions why Eleanor didn't understand what Benny was going through and never offered her advice.

Byron, even though a highly recognizable African American man, has been subjected to social injustice but never been empowered to stand up for his rights. Being estranged from Benny, their father's death, and a disturbing incident with Eleanor shortly before her death shook the foundations upon which Bryon built his life and beliefs. His mother once asked him, "What are you willing to do? . . . Are you going to let someone else's view of who you should be, and what you should do, hold you back?" At last Bryon finds the answers to her questions.

And their sister, in whose life food has played an integral part, as well, must come to terms with a truth that she suspected all along. Mr. Mitch endures his own rediscovery of intimacy, as well as heart-wrenching loss.

Wilklerson notes that "many families have stories like these, and when they finally emerge, they often do so in the kitchen, at the table, over a meal, or with a glass in hand." Or via the submission of DNA samples to companies like Ancestry and 23andMe. Black Cake is a scintillating and moving examination of learning to adapt when one's perceptions and beliefs about family members' decisions and choices are upended by revelations of long-held secrets. It's about being willing to cast away old ideas in favor of new understandings about the people one loves -- what they have endured, what motivated the direction their life took, what inspired them to endure adversity. Wilkerson believes that learning our family history can inspire us to accept "seeming contradictions or conflicts in people and cultures without imposing the need to tie things up neatly."

Black Cake is a stunningly-crafted debut work of fiction. Wilkerson's complex and absorbing family drama is imbued with longing, insight, compassion, humor, and, finally, peace for her intriguing and memorable characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book. show less

“The biggest moments in our lives are often just that, a matter of seconds when something shifts and we react and everything changes.” Black Cake takes the life of one young woman as it billows to include those in her circle, and it’s circumstances, to create an entire story. Wilkerson tells a colorfully written tale that folds in the vibes of the Caribbean with those of the UK and USA, and you’re left with a life recipe “from different cultures that could only have come about through a mixing of traditions, a mixing of fates, a mixing of stories.”
I did not want this one to end, I was captivated by the scenery, the characters and the ever unfolding plot. This is Wilkerson’s first novel, and her writing is clever, the story show more transcendent, and I certainly can’t wait to read what she comes out with next…I’m also now looking for an authentic black cake to try!
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review show less

A superbly written book.

Black Cake is the center of this book that revolves around Covey, a young girl turned runaway bride from a Caribbean island. She is forced to marry ‘Little Man,’ a gangaster-type after her father runs up debt with no other way to pay. Through a twist of circumstances, Little Man dies at the reception and Covey flees and ends up in the UK under a new last name. Another tragedy strikes when Covey and her friend, Ellie are in a train crash and Covey again, takes on a new identity.

The story switches from Covey’s backstory to Covey’s current life which includes her children. Upon Covey’s death, her children will learn their entire life has been built on lies - but are all lies bad?

Because the writing was show more excellent it helped me work through the weeds when the narrative got a little drawn out, causing the pacing to slow a bit. That being said, there wasn’t a time when I wished I weren’t reading this book with its beautifully, descriptive prose.

I will look for another one of Charmaine Wilkerson’s works in time as this was her extremely successful debut. show less

Black Cake is a beautifully crafted, multi-generational novel about family, identity, migration, and the secrets that shape us. When Eleanor Bennett leaves her children a voice recording and a traditional Caribbean black cake, it sets in motion a journey through hidden histories, fractured relationships, and cultural legacies.

Wilkerson’s storytelling is tender and immersive, weaving past and present with skill. The novel delves into complex themes, race, colonialism, estrangement, and forgiveness, while celebrating resilience and the quiet ways we carry love across generations.

At its heart, Black Cake is a meditation on how the stories we inherit and the ones we choose to tell define who we become. A moving, memorable debut that show more lingers long after the final page.

N.Cervone show less

This is a multigenerational dual timeline story set in present day California and a Caribbean island in the 1960s. The author herself grew up in Jamaica and her parents were born there and this is presumably the context the book is based on, but this is never explicitly stated.

The story begins with estranged siblings Benny and Byron coming together for the reading of their mother Eleanor’s will. They discover she has left them a traditional black cake and an 8 hour audio recording about her life.

The story then takes us back to the 1960s when a young Coventina Lyncook (Covey) is growing up on a Caribbean island with her Chinese father, mourning the loss of her islander mother, who left when his drinking and gambling became too much. show more Covey throws her energy into ocean swimming and her secret romance with Gibbs. She feels happy despite the challenges, until her father decides to improve his fortunes by marrying her off to a powerful, older man. When a death on the island leaves Covey under suspicion of murder, her world comes crashing down around her.

What follows is a story about secrets, relationships, and the connections created by cooking. The sweetness of the black cake recipe from the islands permeates the book, and creates an atmosphere of its own.

For me personally I found a few things irritating. Firstly as I am currently doing a read around the world challenge, I find it annoying that the author cannot even name the island Covey and Gibb came from, rather it is glossed over in an amorphous stroke as the Caribbean. Maybe this is meant to convey the impression that many islands in the Caribbean suffered a similar colonial history, but by not giving the island its own distinct history and culture this feels like another broad stroke of colonialism, putting different people groups together in one amorphous category without any effort to see their uniqueness.

My other problem was with Byron. I found him to be just a walking issue advertisement with no personality or function in the story other than as a billboard for any subject the author wanted to address. There is also that tendency of debut authors to need to cover all the issues in one book. If you cut Byron out of the story it actually would make very little narrative difference, and in fact Bunny the swimmer was a more appealing vehicle to bring attention to the state of our oceans. His sister Bunny at least has some personality and has an important role in the book with her story of rejection and heartache, even though she often comes across as immature, petulant and selfish.

Overall I enjoyed this book, in particular for its island setting, smell of cooking and unraveling of secrets. 3.5 stars for me. show less

Upon the death of Eleanor Bennett, her children Byron and Benedetta ("Benny") are left with an audio recording from their mother, telling a life story of secrets that neither of them had any previous knowledge of. As they try to come to terms with these newfound revelations, they also each must come to terms with their own life's demons, trying to repair a relationship that has deteriorated over the years.

Despite its short chapters, it took me almost four months to finish this novel, and I'm not sure why. There was something about it that felt slightly disjointed. At its heart, it was a good story, but I feel like the author tried to put too much in, almost to the point of forcing it, making it feel unnecessary and cumbersome, which show more bogged this down somewhat. While these side topics are certainly relevant, they didn't quite "flow" seamlessly within the main undercurrent of this story. The ending, too, felt forced and though I knew I was getting close to the end, the very last chapter was abrupt and took me by surprise, not expecting to turn the page and realize I had finished the book. I did not dislike this book and it was fairly decent as a debut, but I do think it could have been more polished. I'm currently 3 episodes into the series adaptation on Hulu, which seems to be true to the book and which I'm enjoying thus far. show less

The Black Cake referenced in Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel represents the traditional Caribbean dessert served at weddings and other celebrations, but also the family history handed down like the recipe. When estranged siblings Benny and Byron reunite for the funeral of their mother, they must confront family secrets as well as each other. Told in short sections focused on different characters, Wilkerson moves back and forth to cover a convoluted history that follows the Bennett family from 1950s Jamaica to London in the 1960s to modern-day California and Europe. Wilkerson examines themes common to every era —immigrants, racism, family, history —with a deft touch. At times the jumping around became slightly tedious and the show more structure took over the story, but Wilkerson pulled it back together for an overall excellent book that crosses genres to include historical fiction and contemporary literature with a social justice twist. I highly recommend Black Cake for readers of Tayari Jones, Brit Bennett, Celeste Ng, and other contemporary writers exploring themes of racism, environmentalism, immigration, and family. show less