Nella Larsen: Passing (Modern Library) (Modern Library Torchbearers)

by Larsen, Nella & Greenidge, Kaitlyn

ISBN: 9780375758133

Published: 2002-05-28

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING TESSA THOMPSON AND RUTH NEGGA Two women in 1920s New York discover how fluid and dangerous our perceptions of race can be in this electrifying classic of the Harlem Renaissance—with an introduction by Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman, finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize “The genius of this book is that its protagonists . . . are complex and fully realized. . . . The work of a highly talented and thoughtful writer.”—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Irene Redfield is living an affluent, enviable life with her husband and children in the thriving African American enclave of Harlem in the 1920s. That is, until she runs into her childhood friend, Clare Kendry. Since they last saw each other, Clare, who is similarly light-skinned, has been “passing” for a white woman, married to a racist man who does not know about his wife’s real identity,...