Passing:

By; Nella Larsen

Page Number: 111

Originally published: 1929

"It did hurt.

But it didn't matter."

Passing, by Nella Larsen, is a fictional story of Irene Redfield who encounters her old friend Clare Kendry in a restaurant in New York after many years. The story takes place in 1920s Harlem, an era in which the unjust treatment and persecution of the black community were customary.

Clare, who is genetically an African-American woman, gets into a dangerous zone of pretending to be white and creating a mirage where she has completely remodeled her entire life. In disguise, she marries a racist man, cuts off all her African-American social circles, and essentially comprises her whole being in the name of pursuing a more privileged life.

After their encounter, the two friends get into each other's lives once again, but this time there seem to be feelings of envy, fear, resentment, anger, and guilt. Irene, doing her best for her family in rigorous circumstances, notices the changes in her husband after Clare's penetration into their lives, and becomes submerged in feelings of anguish. Clare, on the other hand, sees Irene and Brian as a way into her old life that she utmostly craves the comfort of. Thus, their dilemma turns into something bigger.

Larsen's sophisticated and creative way of writing leaves the reader eager to know more about the characters and where they will end up. Indirectly handling questions of race, intersectionality, gender, and culture and class differences, reading Passing was a thought-provoking experience.

personal rating of the book: 8/10