Quicksand - (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) by Nella Larsen (Paperback)

Number of Pages: 125
Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres
Sub-Genre: Classics
Series Title: Dover Books on Literature & Drama
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Dover Publications
Age Range: Adult
Author: Nella Larsen
Language: English

Book Synopsis

Helga's mother is white, and her father is black -- and absent. Ostracized throughout her lonely childhood for her dark skin, Helga spends her adult life seeking acceptance. Everywhere she goes -- the American South, Harlem, even Denmark--she feels oppressed. Socially, economically, and psychologically, Helga struggles against the quicksand of classism, racism, and sexism.
One of the most acclaimed and influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen published her powerful first novel in 1928. Quicksand features intriguing autobiographical parallels with Larsen's own life, in addition to reflecting many aspects of African-American culture of the 1920s. Alice Walker praised it and Passing (Larsen's second novel, also available in a Dover edition) as novels I will never forget. They open up a whole world of experience and struggle that seemed to me, when I first read them years ago, absolutely absorbing, fascinating, and indispensable.

About the Author

One of the shining stars of the Harlem Renaissance, Nellallitea Nella Larsen (April 13, 1891-March 30, 1964) left behind only two novels and a handful of short stories -- but Larsen's remarkable voice and vision has ensured her place in literary history.