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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 lightskinned, 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.
Clare finds herself drawn to Irene's sense of ease and security with her Black identity and longs for the community (and, increasingly, the woman) she lost.
Irene is both riveted and repulsed by Clare and her dangerous secret, as Clare begins to insert herself—and her deception—into every part of Irene's stable existence. First published in 1929, Larsen's brilliant examination of the various ways in which we all seek to "pass," is as timely as ever.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 1, 2012 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781464032905
- File size: 119372 KB
- Duration: 04:08:41
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 810
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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Larsen's landmark novel was first published in 1929. Its author was one of the celebrated writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Clare Hendry, a black woman who passes for white, marries a white man who doesn't know his wife's true heritage. Irene Redfield, Clare's childhood friend, is also fair enough to pass but has remained true to her community. When the two women accidentally meet as adults, their lives become entwined in the complexity of segregated America in the 1930s. Robin Miles gives an excellent performance. The novel countered racial stereotyping of African-American speech, and Miles has held true to the author's intention. P.R. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
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