Passing
By Nella Larsen
114 pages
From the library
Irene Redfield is leading a calm and ordered life. She cares for her two sons and oversees the social obligations of her doctor husband. Irene has much lighter skin than her husband and occasionally passes for a white woman in order to make her day a bit easier. She is uncomfortable, however, when she runs into her childhood friend Clare and discovers that Clare passes everyday as the wife of a white man. Despite her discomfort, Irene and Clare's lives begin to intertwine with consequences that will change everything.
A great deal of this book obviously has to do with "passing," which was the term for light-skinned African Americans pretending to be white, either implicitly or explicitly. There were many levels of passing, as exemplified by Irene's occasional pretending in order to get a cab or go to certain restaurants and Clare's complete life change. Racism is still very evident in 1920s America, but it is not as overt among the upper class where Irene and her husband live.
Passing is a tiny novel. The action moves slowly as events happen in Irene's life and then she spends large portions of the book thinking about those moments and her reactions to them. This is a story where much of what is happening is happening in the silence of our character's minds. The writing almost has a dreamlike quality to it, which is compounded by Irene's unreliable narration. How much does she imagine and how much is real?
The great strength of this novel is that it is both specific and universal. It is about the particular injustice of racism, but it is about the incredibly common tragedy of wanting what we cannot have. It details the choices of Clare and Irene, but it will ring true for any reader who has made a difficult decision that they hoped would be the right one. Passing is one of those books you can read again and again. This slim novel will unearth new revelations each time as we see the tension between Irene and Clare's lives.
A great deal of this book obviously has to do with "passing," which was the term for light-skinned African Americans pretending to be white, either implicitly or explicitly. There were many levels of passing, as exemplified by Irene's occasional pretending in order to get a cab or go to certain restaurants and Clare's complete life change. Racism is still very evident in 1920s America, but it is not as overt among the upper class where Irene and her husband live.
Passing is a tiny novel. The action moves slowly as events happen in Irene's life and then she spends large portions of the book thinking about those moments and her reactions to them. This is a story where much of what is happening is happening in the silence of our character's minds. The writing almost has a dreamlike quality to it, which is compounded by Irene's unreliable narration. How much does she imagine and how much is real?
The great strength of this novel is that it is both specific and universal. It is about the particular injustice of racism, but it is about the incredibly common tragedy of wanting what we cannot have. It details the choices of Clare and Irene, but it will ring true for any reader who has made a difficult decision that they hoped would be the right one. Passing is one of those books you can read again and again. This slim novel will unearth new revelations each time as we see the tension between Irene and Clare's lives.
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