Passing is a classic from the Harlem Renaissance which details the story of how two childhood friends met again after twelve years. Irene was married to a dark-skinned African-American doctor and became active in civil societies for African-Americans, while Clare married a white man with deep-seated prejudice for African-Americans. Clare, having been raised by her white aunts started “passing” as white. To most people, especially her husband, she’s viewed as white. Irene on the other hand, chooses not to pass unless she feels like she has to. This tension between the two of them, between the very different lives that they choose to lead forms the crux of the novel.

Clare is an interesting character. We mostly see her from Irene’s point of view and from there, our perception of her naturally becomes colored by how Irene sees her. Clare is a fascinating woman and as much as Irene likes to gripe about her, she’s also clearly fascinated by Clare. Selfish, alluring Clare who lives two lives, never fully committing to one.

There’s also a lot of subtext in this book about the attraction Irene feels for Clare. She constantly describes her appearance as beautiful and striking, and Irene herself cannot help but be drawn in by Clare to the point that she can’t refuse her even though she wants to. In the end however, she does feel like Clare is a threat to the kind of life she’s built for herself and later on, some of her actions are a reaction to that perceived threat. Mostly however, there is a certain passivity to Irene’s actions despite her anxieties.

As the title implies, the book is about “passing”, the act of being able to pass as white despite having African-American blood. In the novel, Clare does it because her husband is extremely racist and there’s no telling what he’d do once he finds out that Clare is African-American. It’s portrayed as dangerous, but maybe a little bit exciting. There are moments in the book where Irene contemplates telling Jack, Clare’s husband, but decides against it. She wonders if she did it out of a sense of loyalty to Clare and a sense of wanting to protect her own. There’s a sense of kinship, of camaraderie there, but mostly it’s Clare herself she wants to protect.

It’s also interesting how imperfect Irene’s own home life is. There is a tension between her and her husband because he wanted to go to South America, but she wanted to stay in New York, believing it to be better for her family. This tension and flaws in their life also serves to worsen Irene’s anxieties, especially with Clare back in her life.

It is very much a novel about racial identity and explores how characters fit within their racial identity and how they grapple with it. The contrast between Clare and Irene is very clearly shown in this regard, as well as Clare’s desire to be in both groups at once- or rather, to live two separate lives.

The ending was a little ambiguous and abrupt, but it works in the context of the story. Throughout the story, Irene wishes Clare out of her life and in a sense, she does get it. It was a bit surprising, but it works.

I’d say Passing isn’t a book you’d go for because of the plot, it’s very much a character-focused novel. It puts you in the head of Irene and you follow her as she meets Clare and you get to see how this meeting affects her. It is a great book and an underrated classic which I can highly recommend. It’s also pretty short at less than a hundred and fifty pages but the characters are very well-developed and fleshed out. Highly Recommended.