Passing: Nella Larsen

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`She wished to find out about this hazardous business of "passing," this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one`s chance in another environment...`

The elegant Clare Kendry glides through New York`s high-society circles with ease, until the day she is reacquainted with her childhood friend, Irene. Clare chooses to `pass` as white, hiding her African American heritage from her bigoted husband, while Irene leads a life that embraces it. As both women observe the other, a relationship of mutual fascination, obsession and secrets begins, one that will end in devastating circumstances.

Published in 1929, Nella Larsen`s Passing lays bare the complexities of identity, race, class and gender. The novella established Larsen as one of the most important female authors in American literature and is considered a literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance era.