Tracing life in the Caribbean, Europe and the United States over 40 years, her experiences are the primary plot driver and reason to read the novel. Usually I’m a fan of multigenerational, interwoven stories with various POVs, but with 12 major and minor characters, it began to feel like they were competing for page space versus pushing the story forward.Įleanor’s story was the most compelling. While that sounds more nefarious than it is, secrets are definitely the family business, with each of the core characters - Benny, Byron, Eleanor, Bert, Etta, Pearl, Lin and Marble - concealing their own mysteries. The estranged Bennett siblings reconnect after the death of their mother to hear a recording full of family secrets that upends all they previously thought to be true. Wilkerson had the elements of fantastic novel here, but whether by her own doing or advice from an editor, she continually drifted from the most compelling narrative in favor of plots for less interesting characters. It also felt mediocre, suffering from a case of being overcooked and under satisfying. In other words, it’s the perfect crowd pleaser. The short chapters help push the reader forward, and the mysteries are all wrapped up in the end. Wilkerson writes with an accessible and breezy style that tingles all your senses. Objectively speaking, this is not a terrible novel. Freeman, I found the sum of the parts of this “Cake’” decidedly dull instead of delectable. Outside of the exceptional audiobook narration by Lynnette R. “Black Cake” the debut novel of former journalist Charmaine Wilkerson is one of the most buzzed about books of 2022, and while entertaining enough, I forced my way through the last third after becoming tired of the multiple characters and pile on plots. Why I Read It: It’s one of the most popular books of 2022 and several people I know loved it. Recommended For: Easy-to-read crowd pleasers.

Reality: It delivers on the drama and Caribbean experience, but there’s too much plot and too many people making it feel overstuffed and undercooked. 100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Benny and Byron haven’t spoken in years, but after being called to a lawyer’s office after the death of their mother, they learn that everything they thought they knew about their parents was a lie.Įxpectation: A big-hearted family drama with historical fiction elements and the experiences of Caribbean Americans.

Black cake book cover