The Vanishing Half: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Kennedy becomes a daytime television actor. In 1988, she lands a recurring role on a soap opera series called Pacific Cove. She finds herself thinking one day about a time when she was seven and her mother was frosting a cake. Kennedy asked where Stella learned how to bake, wondering if her mother taught her. But Stella dodged the question by saying that her family didn’t have money for cakes. Kennedy, however, kept pressing for information, wanting to know where Stella’s mother died. Stella angrily said that her mother died in Opelousas, which was where she grew up—but Kennedy corrected her, saying that she didn’t grow up in Opelousas. She then revealed that she remembered a conversation from a long time ago in which Stella had said she was from a place that began with an M.

When seven-year-old Kennedy brought up what Stella told her about Mallard, Stella denied it, acting like her daughter must have misremembered something. But Kennedy could tell her mother was lying. Since then, she has always wondered where Stella really grew up, knowing it must have been some town starting with an M. When Jude said “Mallard” at the cast party several years ago, Kennedy finally recognized the name.

Before landing her role as a soap opera actor in 1988, Kennedy moves to New York to pursue her dreams of performing on Broadway. She gets cast in several plays, but she’s often distracted by what Jude told her, wondering if it’s true that her mother is a light-skinned Black woman. She resents Jude for saying what she said, but she also resents her mother for not providing more clarity—all Stella ever does is lie and make excuses whenever Kennedy brings up what Jude told her. 

In New York, Kennedy starts dating a Black scholar named Frantz. One night, she asks what he’d do if she told him she wasn’t actually white. She then says that she’s partially Black, and he says that he can tell—but he’s only joking. Deciding to drop the issue, she tells herself that she would be able to “feel it” if she were actually Black.

Kennedy works at a coffee shop when she’s not at rehearsal or giving a performance. While working one day, she’s astounded to see Jude standing on the other side of the counter. Reese is there, too, standing in the background and looking as handsome as ever. Jude gives Kennedy the number of the hotel she and Reese are staying at while they’re in New York. When Kennedy calls, she learns that Jude and Reese are in town because Reese is having surgery. She also learns that Jude and Reese now live in Minneapolis, where Jude attends medical school. Jude acknowledges that things ended poorly between her and Kennedy, but she says that she has something to show Kennedy. They agree to meet after Kennedy’s show that night.