Passing

Blurb

Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends of mixed-race African-American ancestry—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title and central theme of the novel refer to the practice of racial "passing"; Clare Kendry's passing as white with her white husband, Jack Bellew, is featured as a central part of the novel, and a catalyst for events.
Larsen's exploration of race was informed by the racial discussion taking place in the United States during the 1920s. The "Rhinelander Case" is a notable precedent for the fictional Kendry-Bellew relationship. Praised upon publication, the novel has since been celebrated in modern scholarship for its complex depiction of race, gender and sexuality, with suggestions that some characters were "passing" as heterosexuals. As one of only two novels by Larsen, Passing has been significant to her being ranked at the forefront of several literary canons, and has been the subject of considerable scholarly criticism.