Passing (1929)
Passing is a 1929 fiction book written by Nella Larsen and Matthew Hodgson.
Irene Redfield has built a settled life in Harlem: a physician husband, two sons, a townhouse, a calendar of charity balls among the neighborhood's elite. Then a chance meeting in a Chicago hotel brings back Clare Kendry, a childhood acquaintance light enough to live as white, married to a man who does not know. Nella Larsen writes their reunion in cool, precise prose, watching two Black women who have chosen opposite sides of the color line circle each other with fascination and unease. First published in 1929, a landmark of the Harlem Renaissance.
Quick answers
What is Passing about?
Irene Redfield has built a settled life in Harlem: a physician husband, two sons, a townhouse, a calendar of charity balls among the neighborhood's elite. Then a chance meeting in a Chicago hotel brings back Clare Kendry, a childhood acquaintance light enough to live as white, married to a man who does not know. Nella Larsen writes their reunion in cool, precise prose, watching two Black women who have chosen opposite sides of the color line circle each other with fascination and unease. First published in 1929, a landmark of the Harlem Renaissance.
When was Passing published?
Passing was published in 1929.
Who made Passing?
Passing was written by Nella Larsen, Matthew Hodgson and Tamar Mishmar.
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A few thoughts on Passing
The 2021 film Passing adapts this directly, shot in luminous black and white that suits Nella Larsen's restraint and her interest in what a face can conceal. For the same charged surface, keep Pinky nearby, an older Hollywood drama built on the same fault line of who gets read as white and at what cost.
Living as someone you are not, and the risk of being seen
Passing turns on Clare, who lives as white and cannot stop circling the life she left. These stories share that tension of a concealed identity and the dread of exposure, where one recognition could undo everything a person has built. Quiet, watchful drama about the cost of the face you show the world.