Passing - (American Voices) by Nella Larsen (Paperback)

About the Book

Nella Larsen's 1929 novella follows friends Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, two black women who pass as white. Their anxieties about passing culminate in tragedy, revealing the powerful repercussions of hiding one's identity. Nearly a century later, Larsen's exploration of race remains urgent and relevant as ever.

Book Synopsis

Nella Larsen's 1929 novella follows friends Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, two black women who are able to pass as white. Their anxieties about passing culminate in tragedy, revealing the powerful repercussions of hiding one's identity. Nearly a century later, Larsen's exploration of race and privilege remains as urgent and relevant as ever.

Review Quotes

Praise Then
"One of the finest novels of the tear." -- W.E.B. Du Bois, 1929
"Compact and terse ... a book that will linger." -- Alice Dunbar-Nelson, 1929
"Larsen has produced a work so fine, sensitive, and distinguished that it rises above race categories and becomes that rare object, a good novel." The Saturday Review of Literature, 1929
Praise Now
"Passing questions the very idea of race, exposing it as one of our most powerful--and dangerous--fictions." -- Carla Kaplan, Distinguished Professor of American Literature
"One of the most promising if enigmatic writers of the Harlem Renaissance." -- Ntozake Shange, playwright and poet
"There are novels that are enjoyable to read and others that say something about the world. And sometimes there are novels that are both. Passing by Nella Larsen is one of those books." -- Heidi W. Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky