Passing

Nella Larsen's powerful, thrilling, and tragic tale about the fluidity of racial identity that continues to resonate today. Clare Kendry is living on the edge. Light-skinned, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past after deciding to "pass" as a white woman. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and : is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare's risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain.
After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare's interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for Irene's Black identity, which she abandoned and can never embrace again, and she is forced to grapple with her decision to pass for white in a way that is both tragic and telling.