Passing

Description

Long time childhood friends, Claire and Irene finally catch up as mature, married adults living in a “black and white” world where the social boundaries between blacks and whites were causing controversies and creating numerous discrepancies on all levels of society.

Passing, as named after the act of attempting to be recognized in another racial group or community, is a novel written by Nella Larsen, a member of the “New Negro” writers movement that was increasingly more recognized in the early 1920s.

While her career as a novelist was less illustrious when compared to many of her counterparts at that time, Larsen managed to address a number of intriguing and somewhat delicate elements of the social atmosphere between members of the black and white communities in those years.

The novel basically follows the tale of two young women of dark skinned lineage named Claire and Irene, the former having been able to pass as white and even marry a white racist man who was unaware of her true lineage. Irene in the meantime marries a black doctor in Harlem, and continues to be supportive of her race’s numerous struggles.

The plot thickens to a considerable extent as the two friends find each other once more, and are in the center of a potentially volatile intrigue that takes proportions, especially as Irene suspects her husband having an affair with her old friend.

The book is remarkably insightful, as well as well-written, with Larsen painting a dramatic and even tragic picture of the events that unfold around the two women. For anyone interested in the social background of the early 20th century in Harlem, as well as the racial struggles defining the communities in the surrounding areas, this novel can be a remarkably genuine and insightful read, transporting you to the heart of what those involved actually felt when faced with the challenges and problems of the time
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