Passing by Nella Larsen

 Passing by Nella Larsen - 1929

Nella Larsen

Born April 13, 1891 Chicago, Illinois 

Died March 30, 1964 Brooklyn,New York

“If someone was “Passing” in the slang of African Americans in the 1920s and 30rds it meant they were pretending to be white, hiding their full heritage.  This was a period of massive migrations from The American South by descendents of slaves to big Northern cities and California.  In The south it was very hard to pass as your ancestors were known.  The two lead characters in Passing are women of African heritage who “look white”who live totally as if they were in fact white.

As the story opens two women, out alone, are caught in a bad rain storm in Chicago The knew each other before they migrated but have not seen each other in years.    By coincidence they both seek refuge in the tea room of an elite “no colored allowed” hotel.  They get reacquainted and laugh over how they are fooling the hotel.

Irene 

The story is told by Irene Redfield, a mixed race woman living in Harlem. Irene gets a letter from Clare describing the incident and suggest they get together.  Clare’s father was white and when both her parents passed at an early age she went to live with her white grandparents. Clare lives primarily in Europe with her rich husband who does not know her heritage and their daughter.  Clare is temporarily in New York City and does reluctantly agree to socialize with Irene and her friends.

Irene goes to Clare’s town house for tea, along with another bi-racial friend from long ago.  Clare’s husband shows up and begins a long racist rant.  The friends decide Clare will be in danger if her husband learns her secret and decide to break off contact.

But things are not so simple.  A complex series of events cause Clare’s husband to discover her secret.  He goes into a wild rage, saying both his wife and his daughter are niggers.  Clare dies in a fall down the stairs, it looks like her husband pushed her.

The prose is very elegant.  Larsen wrote one other novel, 

Quicksand I hope to read.

From Wikipedia 

“Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen (born Nellie Walker; April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, Quicksand (1928) and Passing(1929), and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, she earned recognition by her contemporaries”

Two Short Stories by Nella Larsen - "The Wrong Man" and "Freedom" both first published 1926

Nella Larsen

Born Aoril 13, 1891 - Chicago

Died March 30, 1964 - Brooklyn

Major Works

Quicksand - 1928

Passing - 1929 

Considered a leading literary member of the Harlem Renaissance Movement 

Larsen two novels both deal with a light skinned African American woman attempting to "pass" as white.  Her work treats issues of class, women's social roles in Chicago in the 1920s.  Her characters are upper class, affluent and educated.  Chicago in the 1920s had not yet felt great waves of people moving up from the south.  African American high society was a small world, the acceptable term was "Negro", social fraternities and sororities meant a lot, and the female standard of beauty was in favor of lighter skinned women.  Larsen in her work illuminated the psyche damage this caused.

She published two short stories in 1926, both are brief and both have a twist enfing.  The prose is very elegant.

In "Wrong Man" a woman is at a society party with her husband.  They are very happy.  She never told him she had been married and divorced before meeting him.  She wants it kept a secret.  Then who should be at the party but her ex-husband.  She approaches him and begs him not to say anything.  We learn at the end she had mixed things up, he was not her ex husband.  Cute Twist and for sure worth three or four minutes.

“Freedom” is a sharper story.  A man left his mistress to lead an expedition as an explorer.  He returned famous.  He finds his mistress died giving birth to his child.  Seeking freedom from gullt, he steps out of a ten story window.

.https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlooked-nella-larsen.html

A very informative article from The New York Times

I hope to read her two novels one day.