Is Passing (1929) CHUD or WOKE?
chudrank score: 56 / 100 (slightly WOKE-leaning). 0 is CHUD (right-wing), 100 is WOKE (left-wing).
Book by Nella Larsen, Matthew Hodgson, Tamar Mishmar, 1929.
12 votes: 50% WOKE, 50% CHUD.
Why: Harlem Renaissance novel on race, passing and identity
First published to critical acclaim in 1929, Passing firmly established Nella Larsen's prominence among women writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Irene Redfield, the novel's protagonist, is a woman with an enviable life. She and her husband, Brian, a prominent physician, share a comfortable Harlem town house with their sons. Her work arranging charity balls that gather Harlem's elite creates a sense of purpose and respectability for Irene. But her hold on this world begins to slip the day she encounters Clare Kendry, a childhood friend with whom she had lost touch. Clare—light-skinned, beautiful, and charming—tells Irene how, after her father's death, she left behind the black neighborhood…