Coloring Outside the Lines
Reviewing Nella Larsen’s Classic Novels ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Passing’
When Jack Bellew playfully greets his wife Clare with the nickname “Nig,” he has no clue she’s actually a black woman passing for white. He thinks she’s tan—convenient because Jack’s racism is both deep and potentially explosive.
Clare’s friends Irene and Gertrude have come to visit Clare and meet her husband, a new acquaintance for them both. They’re d…
