We finished reading The Vanishing Half in four weeks. Surprisingly, Chelsea found the ending disappointing too, feeling that it didn’t leave readers with enough meaningful moments to appreciate.

Finishing a 500-page English book was already quite an achievement. We not only kept the promise we made to ourselves, but also added another shared memory to the Fallina bookshelf.

Since neither of us was satisfied with the ending, we decided to rewrite the story in our own ways.

If We Could Rewrite the Ending

Chelsea shared her idea of turning the story into a detective novel. In her version, Stella would be killed by someone unknown. Desiree would pretend to be her twin sister and live Stella’s life while trying to uncover who killed her sister.

Chelsea believed the killer would be Stella’s husband. But then another question appeared: Why would he want to kill his wife? To make that story work, we would need much more background information about the twins and their relationship.

If I were rewriting the ending, I would probably choose Jude as my protagonist. She represents the kind of rebellious Black woman who learns to live freely in a society full of limitations.

However, what I found missing from the original story was not the idea of who Jude could become, but the journey of how she became that person. Her life seemed to lack a clear direction, which made her final growth feel a little disconnected from the person we had followed before.

I would want to focus more on her struggles, failures, and personal growth — the moments that shape her identity and teach her how to build a life of her own.

Unlike her mother, Jude would chase her dreams, build her own identity, and create a life based on her own choices. That kind of independent and self-improving woman has always been my cup of tea.

I would love to compare two generations: Desiree and Jude.

The social environment around Black people changed dramatically through generations, thanks to courageous figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, who became symbols of social progress and change.

Jude’s generation naturally benefited from a different world compared to Desiree’s.

But beyond social background, I am more interested in how individuals choose the lives they want to live. Desiree always wanted to escape Mallard. But somehow, she remained there for decades. I don’t think she stayed only because of her mother. I think she stayed because, deep down, she didn’t truly know where she wanted to go or what kind of life she wanted to build. And maybe that is true for many people around us. Sometimes, people make choices by not choosing at all.

On the other hand, I would love to see Jude as someone who takes more control over her own life. In the end, she may still be Black in appearance, but she becomes powerful through the identity she creates for herself.

Beyond the Book

Other than discussing how we would rewrite the ending, we also shared our experiences of suffering, growth, and our thoughts on love and friendship, as always.

I believe that by meeting once a week with a shared book in our hands, we slowly started to understand not only each other, but also ourselves better.

Oh, we forgot to share our Secret Code. After two hours of intense discussion and reading, I didn’t even realize we had skipped this week’s question: “Bring something that reminds you of summer.”

It wasn’t until I was walking home alone that I suddenly realized we had already shared our answers without even knowing it. Chelsea brought the blue sky, and I brought the white clouds. After weeks of storms and rain, the sky finally cleared. May our summer days be just as inspiring as our little Fallina Book Club.

Until next time~