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Light-skinned Black woman Irene Redfield encounters an old childhood friend - Clare - who is now "passing" as a White woman. Clare is married to a racist White man, who doesn't know she has African American blood. In spite of the danger of being found out by her husband and society at large, she finds herself helplessly drawn to Irene's world.

Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", which is a key element of the novel. Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is significant and is a catalyst for the tragic events.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Amaka Okafor, an acclaimed stage actress and composer who performs all over the country at venues such as The National Theatre, The Old Vic and National Theatre Scotland. A classic, brilliant and layered novel that has been at the...

Irene Redfield is a woman with an enviable life. She and her successful husband, Brian, share a comfortable Harlem townhouse with their sons. But everything changes on the day she encounters a long-lost childhood friend. Clare Kendry - light-skinned, charming and beautiful - tells Irene how she left behind the black neighbourhood of her adolescence and began passing for white, hiding her true identity from everyone, including her racist husband....

Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing is hailed today as a significant literary work of Harlem Renaissance, though for several decades it, like all of her works, was out of print. As history rights a wrong and recommits Larsen’s name to memory, it is beneficial to look at the other writings she published over her short career, collected here in Beyond Passing: The Further Writings of Nella Larsen.

For decades The Swarm sat in the sky, barely a spec among the stars. Decades. Yet that still wasn’t enough time to prepare. Some believed The Passing would never happen, not in their lifetime. But it did. The Swarm engulfed the planet, destroyed it, remoulded it, made Earth its own. And those that survived The Passing quickly found that the newly sculpted world wasn’t meant for them.

In Passing, Nella Larsen, a prominent voice of the Harlem Renaissance, delves into the intricate dynamics of friendship, identity, and race. Published in 1929, this captivating novel tells the story of two mixed-race women, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, who can seamlessly navigate between worlds. While Irene embraces her life in Harlem with her black husband, Clare chooses to marry a prejudiced white man. When Clare reappears in Irenes life after years apart, she reignites unsettling questions about identity and belonging. (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett)

In Passing, Nella Larsen delivers a powerful, evocative exploration of identity, race, and the complex choices we make to survive. Irene Redfield, a Black woman living in Harlem, finds her world upended when she reconnects with her childhood friend, Clare Kendry. Clare, who has "passed" as white for years, leads a life of privilege, while Irene’s identity remains grounded in the Black community.