Once used to moving on, it is hard to stay in one place.įor Helga, born in an era less populated with global nomads, being the daughter of a Danish mother and a West Indian straying father seemed to be an irreconcilable and unique identity. Today it is quite common, but still disturbing, especially during adolescence, which I can confirm myself, having lived through a childhood of regular relocations, and now repeating the pattern with my own children. Had Helga been my contemporary, I would have told her about the ever growing literature on the strange identity of third culture or cross culture kids, growing up between different communities, partly at home in both, but never fully belonging. Somehow, Helga Crane’s odyssey through life - from excitement to disappointment, to rebellion, break-out, and new excitement, leading to repeated disappointment - mirrors and reflects the difficulties all people face who do not completely fit into their environment. But there is so much more, touching on the universal and timeless questions of identity and meaning of life. And it would be both right and enough to make it a worthwhile reading experience.

She pioneered writing about the conflicts of sexuality, race and the secret suffering of women in the early twentieth century.You could argue that it is a story about the peculiar hardships of young African American women of the 1920s. Nella Larsen's novels are moving, characterful, and important books. Reconnecting in adulthood, Clare has chosen to live as a white woman, while Irene embraces black culture and has an important role in her community. Written a year later, Passing tells the story of two childhood friends, Clare and Irene, both light skinned enough to pass as white. Quicksand, written in 1928, is an autobiographical novel about Helga Crane, a mixed race woman caught between fulfilling her desires and gaining respectability in her middle class neighbourhood.

Critically acclaimed, both speak powerfully of the contradictions and restrictions experienced by black women at that time. Now a major motion picture starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga and Alexander Skarsgard.Ī writer of the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen wrote just two novels, published here, and a handful of short stories.

Nella larsen's quicksand