Quicksand

nella larsen

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 in the 1920s.

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.

Alice Walker praised Quicksand and Passing (Larsen's second novel) 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."

Genres classicsfictionafrican americanhistorical fictionraceamericanread for schoolschool20th centuryliterature

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1928

Places

harlem new york city new york, denmark, new york city new york, the united states of america, new york (state), copenhagen,

This edition

Format: 144 pages, Paperback
Published: September 15, 2006 by Dover Publications
ISBN: 9780486451404
ASIN: 0486451402
Language: English

Characters More characters

About the author

nella larsen

Nellallitea 'Nella' Larsen (first called Nellie Walker) was an American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance who wrote two novels and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, what she wrote earned her recognition by her contemporaries and by present-day critics.