Synopsis:
Irene Redfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a woman with an enviable life. She and her husband, Brian, a prominent physician, share a comfortable Harlem town house with their sons. Her work arranging charity balls that gather Harlem’s elite creates a sense of purpose and respectability for Irene. But her hold on this world begins to slip the day she encounters Clare Kendry, a childhood friend with whom she had lost touch. Clare—light-skinned, beautiful, and charming—tells Irene how, after her father’s death, she left behind the black neighborhood of her adolescence and began passing for white, hiding her true identity from everyone, including her racist husband. As Clare begins inserting herself into Irene’s life, Irene is thrown into a panic, terrified of the consequences of Clare’s dangerous behavior. And when Clare witnesses the vibrancy and energy of the community she left behind, her burning desire to come back threatens to shatter her careful deception.
Brilliantly plotted and elegantly written, Passing offers a gripping psychological portrait of emotional extremity.
My thoughts:
Wow! What a read.
The reviews for this one have been less favourable and so I just expected an okay read. However, this blew me away by the end!
It was such a fresh and interesting story – especially for a classic.
I’m not normally one to enjoy fiction set in the early 20th century but I really like this setting. It’s set in the 1920s and is written from the perspective of a mixed race/ biracial (African American and white) woman – something I’ve never read from prior.
There’s a lot going on in this very short novel (maybe novella). It’s a lot the unpack and I found it very thought-provoking. I was fascinated by the concept of mixed race/biracial living and acting as white – completely shunning the African American side as Clare does in the novel. It’s interesting seeing the racial prejudice of this time period and the racism Clare has internalised. Clare uses Irene as a way back into the Black community. Irene, though light-skinned is not ashamed of her heritage and does not live as white – marrying a Black doctor. While there seems some conflict within Clare, she’s married to an openly racist white man and actively shuns her origins but inserts herself into Irene’s life to reconnect with the Black community she has dismissed for years.
The two main characters, Irene and Clare are both great to get to know over the course of the story. They’re two very different and contrasting characters, both of which are fascinating.
The story was engaging and well-plotted – a little slow but nothing too bad. It’s a great story with realistic characters, the story feels so real. It’s a shame it’s so short, a longer story would’ve been amazing!
However, the ending… it’s quite abrupt and jarring – I’m not quite sure if I loved it or hated it. I was shocked, to say the least. I couldn’t really believe what I was reading. For the most part the novel’s pace was slow – the ending was so fast and out of nowhere. It’s a very dramatic close to such a short novel. Surprising!
Overall, this is definitely worth a read! A criminally underrated classic, in my opinion. Definitely needs a) a higher rating on Goodreads b) More awareness!!
Classics by POC definitely need more hype and attention in general.
It’s also now a film on Netflix, I’ll have to give it a watch and see how it compares!
Rating: 4 Stars
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Literary Leisha 