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Passing

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Passing

By: Nella Larsen
Narrated by: Tessa Thompson
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Summary

Light-skinned Black woman Irene Redfield encounters an old childhood friend - Clare - who is now "passing" as a White woman. Clare is married to a racist White man, who doesn't know she has African American blood. In spite of the danger of being found out by her husband and society at large, she finds herself helplessly drawn to Irene's world....

Passing is a fascinating listening experience on many simultaneous levels.

©1929 Nella Larsen (P)2020 Audible, Inc. African American Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological World Literature Heartfelt
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fantastic story by Nella Larsen and fantastic narration by tessa thompson. i want to listen to it again.

tessa thompson.. wow

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A classic from the Harlem Renaissance with an unexpected ending.

I have already watched the Netflix movie and found it a fascinating story. Tessa Thompson who is the co-star of the film narrates this audiobook.

Passing

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I have recently watched the Netflix film that is based on this 1929 book by Nella Larsen, It is certainly an eye opening story as I have not come across the idea of "passing" before. Listening to the audio version of this book after the film struck me how close Rebecca Hall's film adaptation is to the original story including some narrative that is lifted directly from the book. If anything, however, the Netflix film is less shocking as it has some of the disturbing racial language edited out. This is a powerful story that tackles themes including race, class and jealousy and leaves the listener wondering if we really have progressed at all in the past century.

Race, class and jealousy in 1920s Harlem

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Tessa Thompson's narration was great! I loved the writing and the story was thought-provoking.

Great writing and narration

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It definitely had The Great American Novel feel to it and it's probably a book very much of its time. Whilst it explored some very fascinating and important themes, it felt slightly under-developed. I did not really get a feel of what it was like (practically and psychologically) to pass - the impact of living that lie on a daily basis. Perhaps a missed opportunity.

Interesting themes

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