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
*
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, which she has chosen to hide
from the rest of the world. Irene is both fascinated and repulsed by
Clare's dangerous secret, and in turn, Clare yearns for Irene's sense of
ease and security with her Black identity and community, which Clare
gave up in pursuit of a more advantageous life, and which she can never
embrace again. As the two women grow close, Clare begins to insert
herself and her deception into every part of Irene's stable existence,
and their complex reunion sets off a chain of events that dynamically
alters both women forever.
In this psychologically gripping and chilling novel, Nella Larsen
explores the blurriness of race, sacrifice, alienation, and desire that
defined her own experience as a woman of mixed race, issues that still
powerfully resonate today. Ultimately, Larsen forces us to consider
whether we can ever truly choose who we are.
**The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on
their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of
resistance.
**
