Nella Larsen Bücher

Irene Redfield führt mit ihrem Mann und ihren Kindern ein zufriedenes, ruhiges Leben. Bis Clare, ihre Freundin aus Kindertagen, nach New York zieht. Beide Frauen sind trotz ihrer afroamerikanischen Wurzeln hellhäutig. Während Irene im blühenden Harlem der 1920er Jahre in der afroamerikanischen Gemeinde zu Hause ist, hat Clare die Seiten gewechselt: Sie lebt in der Welt der Weißen und ist mit einem reichen Rassisten verheiratet, der nichts von ihrer schwarzen Herkunft ahnt.Zunehmend ist Irene beunruhigt über Clares leichtsinniges Verhalten, zumal die attraktive Freundin eine magische Wirkung auf ihren Ehemann zu haben scheint: Clare, die Wanderin zwischen den Welten, liebt die Gefahr und das Spiel mit dem Feuer.Verfilmt von Rebecca Hall mit Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga und Alexander Skarsgård in den Hauptrollen. Demnächst auf Netflix.

Throughout her short but brilliant literary career, Nell Larsen wrote piercing dramas about the black middle class that featured sensitive, spirited heroines struggling to find a place where they belong. Passing is a disturbing story about the unravelling lives of two childhood friends, one of whom turns her back on her past and marries a white racist. Just as disquieting is the portrait in Quicksand of biracial Helga Crane, who is unable to escape her loneliness no matter where and with whom she lives. Race and marriage offer few securities here or in the other stories in this compulsively readable collection, rich in psychological complexities and imbued with a vibrant sense of place - be it 1920s Harlem, Chicago, or Copenhagen.

Exploring themes of identity and race, this collection features Nella Larsen's notable works beyond her acclaimed novel Passing. It includes her autobiographical novel Quicksand, which delves into the struggles of a biracial woman, alongside three compelling short stories: "Freedom," "The Wrong Man," and "Sanctuary." Together, these writings highlight Larsen's significant contributions to the Harlem Renaissance and provide insight into her literary voice and the complexities of her characters' experiences.

A light-skinned beauty who spends years passing for white finds herself dangerously drawn to an old friend's Harlem neighborhood. A restless young mulatto tries desperately to find a comfortable place in a world in which she sees herself as a perpetual outsider. A mother's confrontation with tragedy tests her loyalty to her race.The gifted Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larsen wrote compelling dramas about the black middle class that featured sensitive, spirited heroines struggling to find a place where they belonged. Passing, Larsen's best-known work, is a disturbing story about the unraveling lives of two childhood friends, one of whom turns her back on her past and marries a white bigot. Just as disquieting is the portrait in Quicksand of Helga Crane, half black and half white, who can't escape her loneliness no matter where and with whom she lives. Race and marriage offer few securities her or in the other stories in a collection that is compellingly readable, rich in psychological complexity, and imbued with a sense of place that brings Harlem vibrantly to life.

Two novels of 1920s Harlem describe Helga Crane's search for freedom and personal expression, and Irene's friendship with Clare, who attempts to pass for white.

2011 Reprint of 1928 Edition not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Nella Larsen's first novel tells the story of Helga Crane, a fictional character loosely based on Larsen's own early life. Crane is the lovely and refined daughter of a Danish mother and a West Indian black father who abandons Helga and her mother soon after Helga is born. Unable to feel comfortable with any of her white-skinned relatives, Helga lives in various places in America and visits Denmark in search of people among whom she feels at home. The work is a superb psychological study of a complicated and appealing woman, Helga Crane, who, like Larsen herself, is the product of a liaison between a black man and a white woman. In one sense, Quicksand might be called an odyssey; however, instead of overcoming a series of obstacles and finally arriving at her native land, Larsen's protagonist has a series of adventures, each of which ends in disappointment.