Eventually there are too many characters, too many POVs, too many shifts in timeline, the feeling that there is a checklist of social issues to hit, and some extremely short chapters that chop the story into more pieces. But then more and more gets added into the story, a kind of throw everything in but the kitchen sink approach. We get bits of Covey's story and the story of Byron and Benny, interspersed with Eleanor's recording. She and Gibbs plan to escape the island and attend college in London, once each of them graduates high school. What makes Covey happy is swimming in the ocean, her best friend, Bunny, and her boyfriend, Gibbs. Covey's dad drinks, gambles, and more and her life is not secure. Her mom left Covey and her dad years ago and has never returned. We are taken back to an island in the Caribbean, where we meet a young girl named Covey. Now their mom is going to tell them everything about her past, via this audio recording. Son Byron has a successful career while daughter Benny dropped out college long ago and doesn't have a clear picture of what she wants to do with her life. Eleanor Bennett has died and she has left an eight hour audio recording to be heard by her grown children, in the presence of each other and her lawyer. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.Ĭan Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?Ĭharmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history.

In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording.

Black cake book cover