How do you live with the kind of secret that could explode someone’s entire life? In Tayari Jones’ Silver Sparrow Dana and her mother have always known that James, their father and husband, is a bigamist, while Dana’s half-sister Charisse and her mother are ignorant of his double life. In Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half identical twin Stella chooses to pass as white, keeping her real identity hidden from her husband and daughter, while her sister Desiree has a dark-skinned daughter whose path unexpectedly crosses Stella’s. Two brilliant books about love, family, secrets, race, class, identity and belonging, certain to generate an illuminating discussion. Tayari is the author of four novels, including An American Marriage, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Brit is the author of two novels; The Vanishing Half is longlisted for the National Book Award. They will be in conversation with Ellah P. Wakatama. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.

This event will be CAPTIONED.

Approximate running time 60 minutes

This event will be available for ticket holders to watch for 72 hours after the streamed broadcast.

Tickets for this event are available on a Pay What You Can £6 / £12 / £20 basis. There are also a number of Free tickets available for those that need them.

Please pay £6 (low income / concessionary rate), £12 (standard ticket price) or £20 (if you are watching at home with another member of your household) if you are able to. Any ticket revenue we receive will help Manchester Literature Festival survive these challenging times and hopefully bounce back with a live festival in 2021. However, if you can't afford to buy a ticket please do join us for free.