The Short Fiction of Nella Larsen
By Nella Larsen
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Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen (1891–1964) was an author, nurse, and librarian best known for her contributions to the Harlem Renaissance. Born to a Danish mother and Afro-Caribbean father in South Chicago, Larsen's life would be seemingly marked by her mixed-race heritage. Too Black for white spaces and not quite Black enough for Black spaces, Larsen would find herself constantly at odds in terms of her identity and belonging. First after the death of her biological father, where she would see her mother be remarried to a white man, have a white half-sibling and move to a mostly white neighborhood; next when she would seek a higher education at Fisk University, a historically Black college where she was unable to relate to the experience of her Black peers, and finally in her adult life in New York where she faced difficulties both professionally and socially. In 1914, Larsen would enroll at a nursing school that was heavily segregated and while working as a nurse two years later was employed in mostly white neighborhoods. She would marry Elmer Imes, the second African American to earn a PhD in psychics, in 1919 which–in addition to the couple's move to Harlem–introduced her to the Black professional class; however still, Larsen's near-European ancestry and lack of a formal degree alienated her from Black contemporaries of the times such as Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, and James Weldon Johnson. Larsen would begin to pursue a career as a librarian in 1921, becoming the first Black woman to graduate from the New York Public Library's library school and would help with integration efforts within the branches. Her work in libraries would lead her to the literary circles of Harlem and in 1925 she would begin work on Quicksand, her semi-autobiographical debut novel. Published in 1928 to critical and financial success, Larsen would continue to make waves when just one year later, she published her sophomore novel, Passing. The success of her novels as well as her 1930 short story, "Sanctuary," led her to become the first African American woman to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, which she used to travel through Europe in the wake of her divorce in 1933. Little is known about Larsen's life after she returned to the U.S. in 1937, other than she had returned to nursing, disappeared from the literary world and may have suffered from intense depression. There was some speculation that like the characters in her books, Larsen had elected to pass into the white community given how difficult it was for single women of color to achieve financial independence, but to this day there is no evidence supporting or disproving the claim. While she died alone at the age of seventy-two, Larsen's work cemented her legacy as an important voice in the Harlem Renaissance–one that represented the struggles of identity and culture that befell mixed-raced people of the time.
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Quicksand and Passing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuicksand & Passing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quicksand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passing (Rediscovered Books): With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quicksand: With Linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African American Heritage Super Pack #1: Courage and Perseverance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Collected works by Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand, The Wrong Man, Freedom, Sanctuary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nella Larsen MEGAPACK® Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuicksand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quicksand & Passing: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Passing, Quicksand, and Other Stories Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Quicksand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican American Heritage Super Pack #2: Courage and Perseverance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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The Short Fiction of Nella Larsen - Nella Larsen
The Wrong Man
The room blazed with color. It seemed that the gorgeous things which the women were wearing had for this once managed to subdue the strident tones of the inevitable black and white of the men’s costumes. Tonight they lent just enough of preciseness to add interest to the riotously hued scene. The place was crowded but cool, for a gentle breeze blew from the Sound through the large open windows and doors, now and then stirring some group of flowers.
Julia Romley, in spite of the smoke-colored chiffon gown (ordered specially for the occasion) which she was wearing, seemed even more flamingly clad than the rest. The pale indefinite gray but increased the flaring mop of her hair; scarlet, a poet had called it. The satiny texture of her skin seemed also to reflect in her cheeks a cozy tinge of that red mass.
Julia, however, was not happy tonight. A close observer would have said that she was actively disturbed. Faint abstraction, trite remarks nervously offered, and uncontrolled restlessness marred her customary perfect composure. Her dreamy gray eyes stole frequently in the direction of Myra Redmon’s party. Myra always had a lion in tow, but why that particular man? She shook a little as she wondered.
Suddenly, the orchestra blared into something wild and impressionistic, with a primitive staccato understrain of jazz. The buzz of conversation died, strangled by the savage strains of the music. The crowd stirred, broke, coalesced into twos, and became a whirling mass. A partner claimed Julia and they became part of the swaying mob.
Some show, what?
George Hill’s drawling voice was saying, while he secretly wondered what had got into Julia; she was so quiet, not like herself