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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.
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Subjects
Fiction, Passing (Identity), African American women, Human skin color, Female friendship, Married women, Racially mixed people, Identity (Psychology), Criticism and interpretation, Afro-Americans, Race relations, open_syllabus_project, African American women -- Fiction., Racially mixed people -- Fiction., Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction., Passing (Identity) -- Fiction., Female friendship -- Fiction., Human skin color -- Fiction., Married women -- Fiction., New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction., Fiction, psychological, African americans, fiction, Friendship, fiction, Married people, fiction, New york (n.y.), fiction, Fiction, african american, general, Fiction, african american & black, general, American literature, Fiction, general, African Americans, Noires américaines, Romans, nouvelles, Passing (Identité), Relations raciales, Psychological, Classics, Criticism and interpretationlarsen, nella, African american women--fiction, Racially mixed people--fiction, Passing (identity)--fiction, Identity (psychology)--fiction, Female friendship--fiction, Human skin color--fiction, Married women--fiction, Ps3523.a7225 p37 2007, 813/.52, Contemporary women, Literary, English & college success -> english -> fictionPeople
Nella LarsenPlaces
New York (N.Y.)Times
20th centuryShowing 8 featured editions. View all 58 editions?
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Passing: a novel
Oct 05, 2013, Oshun Publishing Company Incorporated
paperback
0991052331 9780991052332
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Passing (Norton Critical Edition)
September 19, 2007, W. W. Norton
in English
0393979164 9780393979169
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Book Details
First Sentence
"It was the last letter in Irene Redfield's little pile of morning mail."
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- Created April 29, 2008
- 7 revisions
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April 6, 2014 | Edited by ImportBot | Added IA ID. |
August 6, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |