Lisa's Reviews > Passing

What if I could be someone else?

Crossing borders, sneaking into a different society through the back door, and living a secret life, fearing the consequences of detection - that is the main theme of "Passing", which I read directly after Quicksand, but had to let sink in for a couple of days before reviewing.

Quicksand is about how you slowly, steadily sink deeper and deeper into life, choking when you feel the lack of choice, the lack of freedom in a world that judges you for the colour of your skin, your gender, your attitude towards traditions."Passing" is about rebellion against the status quo, and it ends with an explosion of violence I was rather unprepared for, and still can't digest entirely, as it challenged my perception of "good" and "bad" characters to the breaking point, - which is something I appreciate in a novel.

Nella Larsen is definitely a new discovery for me this year, writing seemingly effortless stories of women facing racism and male dominance in the glamorous New York of the 1920s. But she does not end there. Her stories are also deeply concerned with the relationship between women themselves, and their contrasting responses to their shared situation. It is a tale of love and friendship and hate and betrayal, of victors that turn into victims and vice versa.

"Passing", the main topic of the short novel, was something completely new to me, as a phenomenon. Light-skinned women who have African American heritage choose "to pass" for white in certain circumstances to be able to move in the world that is closed to them if they admit their ancestry. In the time of strict segregation, this is a risky business. Fearing the humiliation of detection and expulsion from the society they are not allowed to enter on equal terms if they are honestly admitting their roots, they live a thrilling, but also nerve-racking life on the border of everyday, institutionalised racism.

The two main characters are childhood friends who choose different paths in life: one of them marries a white, blatantly racist man and lives her life in privilege and fear of discovery, while the other chooses to stay within the Harlem community and raise her children in the African American cultural setting.

Tension grows over the years, as the friends meet and compare notes. What are the rules for these women, in a society that is hugely unjust towards them? What is the game they are playing themselves? And what compensation are they entitled to?

It is a story of what women do to each other as well. Instead of uniting to create a better platform for themselves, they develop a (sub?)conscious competition. And the stakes are high! If you fall, they are deadly.

This novel left me deeply saddened, but also grateful. It opened a new door, and widened my perspective on discrimination, while giving me the kind of shiver only a good thriller can produce.