Passing – Cannonball Read 17

“I’m human like everybody else. It’s just that I’m so tired, so worn out, I can’t feel anymore.”

Passing by Nella Larsen

November 12, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

Passing is about pretense, jealousy, psychological ambiguity, concealment, and duplicity. The messiness of being human s portrayed in the relationship between two women, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield. It is through this narrative that Larsen suggests that both racial and gender/sexual identities are as much artifice as they are intrinsic. Larsen is specific in the manner that she portrays her characters. The mechanics of the writing – and its brevity – are significant indicators of the level of craft on display. Larsen is doing big […]

“Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles. You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.”

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

February 28, 2022 by cheerbrarian Leave a Comment

In one word: Clever Accolades have poured in for this book: nominated for a number of literary awards, Good Morning America Book Club selection, picked as a “book of the year” on numerous lists (including Barack Obama’s), and the “one book one community read” for my local book club. The last accolade is what swayed me to pick it up as I’m a loyal participant of the library book club. I was hesitant because we read Bennett’s “The Mothers” four years ago and I did […]

Timely Novel on Race from almost 90 Years Ago

February 10, 2018 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Nella Larsen’s novel Passing, published in 1929, is a short but powerful and provocative tale about race and racism. The two main characters, Irene and Clare, are childhood friends whose lives diverged in their teen years but intersect again as adults. Both women are fair skinned enough to pass as white. Clare has chosen to hide her past and her race from her wealthy white husband. Irene has married a successful black doctor and has a seemingly good life in Harlem. When their paths meet […]

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