Quicksand & Passing (Serpent's Tail Classics) - Softcover

Larsen, Nella

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846687853 ISBN 13: 9781846687853

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2014

Synopsis

A writer of the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen wrote just two novels, published here, and a handful of short stories. Critically acclaimed, both speak powerfully of the contradictions and restrictions experienced by black women at that time.

Quicksand, written in 1928, is an autobiographical novel about Helga Crane, a mixed race woman caught between fulfilling her desires and gaining respectability in her middle class neighbourhood.

Written a year later, Passing tells the story of two childhood friends, Clare and Irene, both light skinned enough to pass as white. Reconnecting in adulthood, Clare has chosen to live as a white woman, while Irene embraces black culture and has an important role in her community.

Nella Larsen's novels are moving, characterful, and important books. She pioneered writing about the conflicts of sexuality, race and the secret suffering of women in the early twentieth century.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Nella Larsen's novels Quicksand(1928) and Passing(1929) document the historical realities of Harlem in the 1920s and shed a bright light on the social world of the black bourgeoisie. The novel's greatest appeal and achievement, however, is not sociological, but psychological. As noted in the editor's comprehensive introduction, Larsen takes the them of psychic dualism, so popular in Harlem Renaissance fiction, to a higher and more complex level, displaying a sophisticated understanding and penetrating analysis of black female psychology.

About the Author:

Nella Larsen was born in Chicago in 1893 of a Danish mother and a West Indian father. She began writing during the Harlem Renaissance, a period during which black artists, writers, and musicians were prominent in the New York art scene. The success of Quicksand and Passing made Nella Larsen one of the most feted woman writers of her generation. She died in 1963 in obscurity. Now her 'lost' work is being rediscovered and celebrated.

About this edition

• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1846687853
• ISBN 13: 9781846687853
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256