Passing – Nella Larsen (Little Clothbound Classics Penguin)

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Clare Kendry, elegant, fair-skinned and ambitious, is married to a white man who is unaware of her African-American heritage. When she reunites with childhood friend Irene, who has not hidden her origins, both women are forced to confront the secret fears they have buried within themselves. A taut exploration of race and gender, Passing is one of the Harlem Renaissance’s greatest works.

‘A tragic story rooted in inescapable facts of American life’ The New York Times