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reila's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
whataliciaisreading's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Irene Redfield is a Black woman living an affluent, comfortable life with her husband and children in the thriving neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s. When she reconnects with her childhood friend Clare Kendry, who is similarly light-skinned, Irene discovers that Clare has been passing for a white woman after severing ties to her past — even hiding the truth from her racist husband.
The contrast, parallels, and interplay between these two women is what makes Passing so wonderfully constructed. Every choice is finely calculated. Their interactions are polite, but Larsen has a way of making the simplest observation feel like a prelude to some great catastrophe.
From the novel’s opening, race is slippery and unstable. Though Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel is understood to be a tragedy, it also exposes race to be something of a farce. But the moments of humour don't release the novella’s tension; rather, they only increase it. It is race’s instability that threatens the women at the centre of this novel.
The contrast, parallels, and interplay between these two women is what makes Passing so wonderfully constructed. Every choice is finely calculated. Their interactions are polite, but Larsen has a way of making the simplest observation feel like a prelude to some great catastrophe.
From the novel’s opening, race is slippery and unstable. Though Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel is understood to be a tragedy, it also exposes race to be something of a farce. But the moments of humour don't release the novella’s tension; rather, they only increase it. It is race’s instability that threatens the women at the centre of this novel.
Larsen enters into fiction the psychological dilemma of Du Bois’ double consciousness, 'two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body’. (Du Bois) Clare, in her frustration towards Irene, finds herself ‘caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her.’
Nella Larsen’s Passing is an incredibly underrated novel, and belongs on everyone’s reading lists.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
lunarianarchive's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
joelette's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
5.0
Perfectly-paced masterpiece.
hannahjeanie's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
geegeegoogoo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
veganheathen's review against another edition
5.0
Even though this book was writting in the 1920s, it still feels modern. It's a novella, but packed full of so many things that have left me pondering. Irene, as our unreliable narrator, makes me wonder what the truth of things really are. Everything we see is through her eyes and her emotions. This book is less about Claire "passing" than it is how Irene is affected by Claire's choices. I'm sure this is one I'll be thinking about for quite a while.
One note - the edition that I read has an introduction by Darryl Pinckney, which really should have been an afterword as it discusses the entirety of the book, including the ending. I'm not a big fan of spoilers so I was a bit annoyed by that. It's a good read, though, so if you get this particular edition, maybe read the Introduction after you've finished the book.
One note - the edition that I read has an introduction by Darryl Pinckney, which really should have been an afterword as it discusses the entirety of the book, including the ending. I'm not a big fan of spoilers so I was a bit annoyed by that. It's a good read, though, so if you get this particular edition, maybe read the Introduction after you've finished the book.
connell98's review against another edition
5.0
I read this for a college class, and I really enjoyed how it explained the dangerous nature of being a black/biracial woman "passing" as a white woman. From a historical as well as a thematic perspective, it really grabbed my attention with the comparison between two women with the same background but totally different lifestyles - all because one has a slightly different complexion.
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Short read, illuminating on attitudes and a point in recent history.
I heard about this novella recently, and thought it sounded as though it was something I SHOULD read. While it's brief and there's little in the way of action, it does give an impression of attitudes and society of a hundred years ago, and what things were like for those 'of colour'.
A black woman is contacted by someone she knew when young, who 'passes' as white though is culturally and physically black. The slight plot looks at these two women, one of whom has purposefully hidden her origins from her white husband (who is himself prejudiced), the other uses her own light skin to her advantage on occasion but who has not distanced herself away from her neighbours or community.
It is when a moral dilemma rears its ugly head that this secret threatens to become exposed and cause harm. How the book ends is short, sharp and quite shocking. Its implications are not explored.
I can see why it's been made into a Netflix production. This is potentially dramatic and definitely discussion-worthy. It's an issue that isn't one that contemporary audiences will have seen before in film or literature as society has changed radically since then, so it's so interesting to see it conveyed here. It raises a lot of questions about the character's motivations, how they've kept up the pretence, how their family members feel about them, implications for discovery, and more.
A very quick read, and one that lingers.
I heard about this novella recently, and thought it sounded as though it was something I SHOULD read. While it's brief and there's little in the way of action, it does give an impression of attitudes and society of a hundred years ago, and what things were like for those 'of colour'.
A black woman is contacted by someone she knew when young, who 'passes' as white though is culturally and physically black. The slight plot looks at these two women, one of whom has purposefully hidden her origins from her white husband (who is himself prejudiced), the other uses her own light skin to her advantage on occasion but who has not distanced herself away from her neighbours or community.
It is when a moral dilemma rears its ugly head that this secret threatens to become exposed and cause harm. How the book ends is short, sharp and quite shocking. Its implications are not explored.
I can see why it's been made into a Netflix production. This is potentially dramatic and definitely discussion-worthy. It's an issue that isn't one that contemporary audiences will have seen before in film or literature as society has changed radically since then, so it's so interesting to see it conveyed here. It raises a lot of questions about the character's motivations, how they've kept up the pretence, how their family members feel about them, implications for discovery, and more.
A very quick read, and one that lingers.