Quicksand and Passing (American Women Writers Series) (Paperback)

by Nella Larsen (Author)
Key Phrases: caressing smile, black female sexuality, Helga Crane, Clare Kendry, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A tantalizing mix of moral fable and sensuous colorful narrative, exploring female sexuality and racial solidarity." -- Women's Studies International Forum

"Quicksand and Passing are novels I will never forget. They open up a whole world of experience and struggle that seemed to me, when I first read them years ago, absolutely absorbing, fascinating, and indispensable." -- Alice Walker

"This series is an ambitious, exciting, and highly valuable contribution to the reclamation of American women's lost literature." -- Joyce Carol Oates

Product Description
"Quicksand" (1928) is the first novel to give a voice to the sexual desires of a black woman. Helga Crane, the book's protagonist, is trapped in the conflict between an active and a passive sexual behaviour, between sexual fufilment and middle-class respectability. Conflicts of race and sex even a religious conversion cannot resolve. "Passing", written a year later, is overtly about black people who pass for white, but in a veiled way it also is the desire of one woman for another - a new and daring theme for the writing of the time. The eroticism and sexuality that Nella Larsen was only able to whisper has in recent times been spoken loud and clear by Gayl Jones, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange and many other black women writers who recognize Nella Larsen as a pioneer and inspiration. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813511704
• ISBN-13: 978-0813511702
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only read Quicksand--wonderful book, November 26, 2004

By	Lucia - See all my reviews

I read this book years ago, in college. It made me much more sympathetic to the struggles of biracial (black and white) women, of the past and today -- I am an Asian-American female. The book is a beautifully written, but painful story of how the protagonist moves through her life in societies where she is kept down on many levels (socially, economically, psychologically, physically) -- basically her journey through the "quicksand" of classism, racism, and sexism. The book deserves a wide audience.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sin that this book is not more widely read., May 1, 1999

By A Customer

Passing and Quicksand are fine novels rich in both history and intrigue. Passing's complex representation of the "race" problem is brilliant in its subtlety. What makes the novel so rich isLarsen's intelligent use of dialogue and her vivid imagery. The paragraph describing Chicago heat in the middle of summer is mind boggling. The friendship between Clare and Irene exposes complexities inherent in female releationships. Certainly the love triangle that develops only adds to the interest level of the narrative. It's a shame that this novel dose not have a wider reaing audience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great look into the harlem renaissance, November 14, 1997

By A Customer

This book is a fast reading, simple to understand look into the life of black women during the Harlem Renaissance. These short stories give a deep glimpse into a part of histroy that is usually forgotten. Nella wrote of her experiences and I think that is what makes these short novels so great.