Passing (Penguin Classics)

Description

First published to critical acclaim in 1929, Passing firmly established Nella Larsen's prominence among women writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Irene Redfield, the novel's protagonist, is a woman with an enviable life. She and her husband, Brian, a prominent physician, share a comfortable Harlem town house with their sons. Her work arranging charity balls that gather Harlem's elite creates a sense of purpose and respectability for Irene. But her hold on this world begins to slip the day she encounters Clare Kendry, a childhood friend with whom she had lost touch. Clare—light-skinned, beautiful, and charming—tells Irene how, after her father's death, she left behind the black neighborhood of her adolescence and began passing for white, hiding her true identity from everyone, including her racist husband. As Clare begins inserting herself into Irene's life, Irene is thrown into a panic, terrified of the consequences of Clare's dangerous behavior. And when Clare witnesses the vibrancy and energy of the community she left behind, her burning desire to come back threatens to shatter her careful deception.

First Sentence

It was the last letter in Irene Redfield's little pile of morning mail.

Excerpt

It was the last letter in Irene Redfield's little pile of morning mail.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Passing (Penguin Classics)Penguin Classics2003-02-04
• Passing.Negro Universities Press1969-01-01
• Passing.Arno Press1969-01-01
• PassingHardcoverBeaufort Books1970-04-01
• Passing.Collier Books1971-01-01
• PassingPaperbackBeaufort Books1990-06-01