Passing

By: Nella Larsen

Narrated by: Robin Miles

First published in 1929, Passing is a remarkable exploration of the shifting racial and sexual boundaries in America. Larsen, a premier writer of the Harlem Renaissance, captures the rewards and dangers faced by two Negro women who pass for White in a deeply segregated world.

©2008 Hadjii (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Tangled Earbuds 58

Robin Miles, is one of my favorite audio book narrators. I listened to another version of this story read by actress Tessa Thompson who portrayed Irene Redfield in the Netflix film Passing. I didn’t care for her voice narration. My ears just love Robin Miles’s voice. Robin Miles brings Nella Larson’s amazing prose to life. Great story.

suspenseful

Beautifully written. Interior monologue plus wonderful, evocative descriptions of life in Harlem in the 20's. indelible characters. Great read. 👍

If not for the Ending

America of the 1920s did not allow for much social mobility between races, and so the choices left to African-Americans were filled with compromises. One such compromise is having to pass as a white person, which causes a definite and permanent rift with former associates. Any contact with those former associates would be a clear sign that there is something not above board.

With all of that being said, what this novel does is set a fairly interesting story of race relations against the more everyday concerns of a wife. The problem with that, however, is that it takes a character who seems like a rational actor and turns her into a jealous woman who commits murder to protect her marriage. The problem is that this jealousy is based purely on suspicion, which undermines her further as a rational actor. Of course, the fact that the story just ends leaves too many questions and motives unanswered and unexamined. But if you are interested in questions of race and how people are motivated to move past set ideas of their race and character, then you would do well to examine this story.

Fairly edgy for the time it was written in.

This started out about passing as a white woman and what mischief that takes, and then ended somewhat abruptly, and under circumstances that made me forget this was about race at all. The narrator added enough nuance to the characters that I never questioned who was speaking as well.

Good

I was impressed when I read Quicksand and was impressed again when reading Passing. Larsen does such a great job creating complex characters and talking about complicated themes. I did think the ending was kind of abrupt, though.