DescriptionPublished in 1928, Nella Larsens first novel Quicksand regards the story of Helga Crane, the lovely and refined mixed-race daughter of a Danish mother and a West Indian black father. The character is loosely based on Larsens own experiences and deals with the characters struggle for racial and sexual identity, a theme common to Larsens work. In Larsens second novel, Passing, published in 1929, the author revisits this struggle through the lives of two childhood friends, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, both of whom are of mixed African and European ancestry and are passing as whites. The novel picks up in the lives of the two as they later reunite in adulthood. An ambiguous relation develops between the two as they share a fascination for how each others lives have transpired since they last knew each other. Larsens work has been lauded for its exploration of race, gender, class, and sexuality amongst African Americans in early part of the 20th century. Now considered as a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Larsens writing gives a firsthand insight into the struggle of African Americans during this era. Along with her two novels three of Larsens short stories, The Wrong Man, Freedom, and Sanctuary are presented together here in this volume.