Nella Larsen’s novel Passing, published in 1929, is a short but powerful and provocative tale about race and racism. The two main characters, Irene and Clare, are childhood friends whose lives diverged in their teen years but intersect again as adults. Both women are fair skinned enough to pass as white. Clare has chosen to hide her past and her race from her wealthy white husband. Irene has married a successful black doctor and has a seemingly good life in Harlem. When their paths meet […]
Having finally turned her attention to Helga Crane, Fortune now seemed determined to smile
This one has sort of always eluded me. It was on my best professor’s syllabus for one of the few of her classes I didn’t take, and even when I was sitting down to do Comps lists, I chose Passing instead. But this book is great. I can’t say I am much of an expert in Black womanhood (most definitely can’t) but this book seems to contain a set of key issues and experiences that go along with it and resonate with my other reading. Helga […]