Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


The cake is full of rum… and yummy secrets

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

by 4 Comments

It took me a while to finish reading “Black Cake”, not because it wasn’t good, but because my life feels — as always — like it’s in flux. I feel like I’m always playing catch-up, always trying to check the to-do boxes on my list, always trying to wait until I’m calm enough to sit down with a book. Here’s a (not well-kept) secret: I’m not sure I know what calm means. My mind is always running. But Black Cake is extremely readable. The chapters […]

When generational trauma meets childhood trauma

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

by Leave a Comment

This was our March book club selection, and I really enjoyed it. I read the author’s debut novel, Black Cake, in February and I feel like she resolved all the issues I had with her writing in that novel here. If anything, I think she could have devoted a bit more time to the past but she genuinely made me care about the present day characters. Good Dirt in this case refers to clay, and a family’s historical legacy that they trace back to an […]

Family legacy and family secrets

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

by Leave a Comment

I think I picked this when I first saw previews for the Hulu show but never got around to reading it (or watching the show). However, since her other book is the March selection for my book club, I thought I might as well check this out first. After Eleanor Bennett dies, her two adult children meet with her lawyer and find out that she has left them one last black cake in the freezer and a recording that they must listen to together. Benny, […]

A complicated mix of a story

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

by Leave a Comment

Black Cake is a novel that I’ve seen favorably reviewed over the past few years, and according to its cover, has been made into a Hulu series. I can understand why Hulu would be drawn to this story. Black Cake involves colonialism, racism, generational misunderstanding and trauma, and resilience. The novel itself is set up with alternating points of view, the most compelling being that of Eleanor Bennett. She has died and left behind for her children a recording in which she reveals astounding secrets […]

“And what about a person’s life? How do you make a map of that? The borders people draw between themselves. The scars left along the ground of one’s heart.”

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

by Leave a Comment

In five words: secrets, Caribbean, sprawling, water, heritage This was a library book club pic that I had heard of (due to the Hulu adaptation) and found it to be intriguing and unique, if also a bit uneven. It’s a story of the gnarled knots and hidden corners of a family tree, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love. After a Thanksgiving Day family blowout, the Bennett family was on rocky ground. Benny, upset at her parents reception to a big […]

Not my usual thing, but very enjoyable.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

by Leave a Comment

I will be honest, I only got Black Cake from BOTM because it was the only Book of the Year in 2022 that I hadn’t already read, and you get a free one every year. I didn’t want to say no to a free book. And I’m glad I got it! This was highly readable and emotionally affecting, even if it wasn’t always able to hold my attention perfectly (lots of little breaks for romance novels, fanfic, etc. — I am who I am). And […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo