Black Cake A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson

Wilkerson takes us on a journey around the world that spans decades, with complex and wonderfully drawn characters.” -Taylor Jenkins Reed, New York Times bestselling author of Evelyn Hugo's Seven Husbands, Daisy Jones & the Six, and Malibu Rising

One of the best books of the year: Oprah Daly, NPR, BuzzFeed, Glamour, PopSugar, Book Riot, She Reads

You can't choose what you inherit. But we can choose who we become.

In modern-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death left a puzzling legacy to her two children, Byron and Benny. In her message, Eleanor tells a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who fled her island home after being accused of murder. Eleanor's harrowing tale, the secrets she still hides, and the mystery of her long-lost child upend everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny restore their once close relationship, unravel Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her last wish to “share the black cake when the time comes”? Will their mother's revelations reunite them or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how relationships and histories are shaped by betrayal, secrets, memories, and even inherited names. Deeply moving and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the lives of a family forever changed by the choices of its patriarch.