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Black Cake
Eleanor Bennett won't let her own death get in the way of the truth. So when her estranged children - Byron and Benny - reunite for her funeral in California, they discover a puzzling inheritance.
First, a voice recording in which everything Byron and Benny ever knew about their family is upended. Their mother narrates a tumultuous story about a headstrong young woman who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder, a story which cuts right to the heart of the rift that's separated Byron and Benny.
Second, a traditional Caribbean black cake made from a family recipe that Eleanor hopes will heal the wounds of the past.
Can Byron and Benny fulfil their mother's final request to 'share the black cake when the time is right'?
Or will Eleanor's revelations leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Review
Black Cake explores the ways we use meals not just to nourish ourselves but to help tell unspeakable stories. Family, food, festering resentment - you'll find plenty to chew on . . . Wilkerson approaches her plot like a mad chef, grabbing ingredients from all over the world, slicing and dicing with abandon, tossing characters and palm fronds and a few drops of rum into a pot and letting it all come to a simmer . . . A roiling soup of family secrets, big lies, great loves, bright colours and strong smells ― New York Times
Black Cake is a beautiful, deeply resonant story of children trying to understand the mother they have lost. Charmaine Wilkerson transports you across the decades and the globe accompanied by complex, wonderfully drawn characters. She has managed to tell a story that is as meaningful as it is delicious. At turns delightfully juicy and then stunningly wise, Black Cake is a winner -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones and The Six
I was instantly taken in by this multi-generational tale of identity, family, and the lifelong push and pull of home. This novel has a tremendous heart at its centre, and I felt its beat on every page. What an extraordinary debut -- Mary Beth Keane, bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes
A special, beautifully written novel that's as rich and intoxicating as the Jamaican rum cake of its title ― Good Housekeeping
Unputdownable. Astonishing. Twists and turns so shocking they will leave your head spinning and your heart aching ― Grazia
So beautifully written I'm struggling to believe it's a debut. The cake is the glue that holds all the layers together and the scenes are so well drawn I could almost taste the cake, feel the warm sea on my skin. My heart broke and was put back together. Bravo -- Nikki May, author of Wahala
I loved the brilliant writing, the characters and the clever and beautiful way the story melded together. A stunning book ― Prima, 'BOOK OF THE MONTH'
An extremely assured debut which pulls in threads and echoes from across the Caribbean diaspora to deliver a rich, complex and really satisfying novel -- Alison Finch, BBC Radio 4
Wilkerson explores the nuances of racial identity and betrayal in a powerful novel ― Vogue
BLACK CAKE has all the ingredients of the tastiest stories: secrets, romance, danger, and a cast of characters so real you want to scream at them one moment and hug them the next. I felt nearly breathless while reading Eleanor's truth - as if I were right there in the room with Byron and Benny, wholly immersed in their mother's tragedies and triumphs -- Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
About the Author
Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in Jamaica and is based in Italy. A graduate of Barnard College and Stanford University, she is a former journalist whose award-winning short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Black Cake is her first novel. Black Cake is in development as a Hulu original series produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films, Marissa Jo Cerar and Kapital Entertainment.
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