Passing by Nella Larsen

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Passing by Nella Larsen: Episode 5

Episode 5

BBC Radio 4 - Passing by Nella Larsen, Episode 5

Irene and Felise encounter John Bellew in the street.

While out with her clearly black friend Felise, Irene bumps into Clare’s husband, John Bellew. His reaction is shock and realisation. On a snowy night, Felise holds a party.

In mid-1920s America, the Harlem renaissance of black culture and society may be underway but racism still runs deep through the habits and laws of the country. Clare Kendry has severed all ties to her impoverished past in the black community of Chicago. Elegant, fair-skinned and ambitious, she is now married to a wealthy white man who is unaware of her African-American heritage. 

When she renews her acquaintance with her childhood friend Irene, who is similarly light skinned but has not hidden her background, both women are forced to reassess their friendship and loyalties. 

Nella Larsen's intense and psychologically nuanced portrayal of lives and identities dangerously colliding, first published in 1929, has recently found new audiences in the cinema and now also as an English literature A -level set text.


Written by Nella Larsen
Read by Ayesha Antoine
Abridged by Isobel Creed 
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4

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Nella Larsen's intense, taut portrayal of lives and identities dangerously colliding.

First published in 1929, Nella Larsen's psychologically nuanced portrayal of lives and identities dangerously established her as a leading writer of America's Harlem Renaissance.

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