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Nella Larsen
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Quicksand (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) Paperback – January 29, 2002

by Nella Larsen (Author), Thadious M. Davis (Editor, Introduction)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 760 ratings
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Born to a white mother and an absent black father, and despised for her dark skin, Helga Crane has long had to fend for herself. As a young woman, Helga teaches at an all-black school in the South, but even here she feels different. Moving to Harlem and eventually to Denmark, she attempts to carve out a comfortable life and place for herself, but ends up back where she started, choosing emotional freedom that quickly translates into a narrow existence.

Quicksand, Nella Larsen's powerful first novel, has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture of the 1920s. It also evocatively portrays the racial and gender restrictions that can mark a life.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Classics
  4. Publication date
    January 29, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    8.5 x 5.43 x 0.46 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0141181273
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0141181271
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fine, thoughtful and courageous. It is, on the whole, the best piece of fiction that Negro America has produced since the heyday of [Charles] Chesnutt." —W. E. B. Du Bois

About the Author

Nella Larsen (1891-1964) was the author of two novels and several short stories. She received a Guggenheim fellowship to write a third novel in 1930 but, unable to find a publisher for it, she disappeared from the literary scene and worked as a nurse.

Thadious M. Davis is the G. C. Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, the author of an acclaimed biography of Nella Larsen, and the editor of Larsen’s Quicksand for Penguin Classics.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics (January 29, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141181273
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141181271
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 5.43 x 0.46 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 760 ratings

About the author

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Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen

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Nella Larsen (1891-1964) was the author of two novels and several short stories. She received a Guggenheim fellowship to write a third novel in 1930 but, unable to find a publisher for it, she disappeared from the literary scene and worked as a nurse.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
760 global ratings
Bro y’all can’t be serious lmao
1 Star
Bro y’all can’t be serious lmao
Cover says Quicksand by Nella Larsen. Inside reads “It’s Not You, It’s What Happened to You” by Christine A. Courtois. Umm, what?
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Top reviews from the United States

SuzyB
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024
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Just as wonderful as her second novel, "Passing." I could see and feel everything. How sad that Nelle Larsen didn't pen more.
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C. Mckenzie
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book - WORST cover photo art EVER!
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2022
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The book was first published in 1928 and written during the Harlem renaissance. It follows a young interracial teacher on her adventures from a Black school in the South, to Chicago, to NYC, to Copenhagen. It’s interesting and deserves readers. BUT the horrible cover photo of a modern woman is AWFUL and could easily put people off from reading it. It does NOT evoke the book at all. The copyright date listed in this edition is 2011 without mention of the 1928 date. It’s confusing and weird. Ignore the cover and the date and enjoy this book that brings the Harlem Renaissance and this young woman’s unique experiences to life.
4 people found this helpful
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Janet Morrison-Lane
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb read
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020
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Much like her wonderful book, Passing, this book is full of complexities and challenges as the character (Helga) navigates her life as a biracial woman who has not figured out how to be fully anything. This book sucks you into the feeling of the challenges Helga faces as she moves from place to place without ever completely being fully herself. Absolutely lovely read!
10 people found this helpful
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Aya
3.0 out of 5 stars good and bad
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2014
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although beautifully written this is a depressing and aggravating story about a shallow and self centered woman who does not experience true growth. I had to read it for class as an excellent example of African American literature and as I said as far as the writing itself it is wonderful - lush and descriptive - and some of the issues brought forth were worth examining - but I hated the character and had no sympathy for her in the end since in my experiences people with far less than she do so much more with it in spite of the obstacles
3 people found this helpful
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Jerelyn Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars Took My Breath Away
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2022
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I loved the sheer honesty of the protagonist; Larsen was fearless. Her.beliefs to this day on race, religion, and society would be considered controversial.
One person found this helpful
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william harris
5.0 out of 5 stars like 'Passing' it describes a woman living in a hellish ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2015
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Nella Larsen's 'Quicksand' is in the tradition of the tragic mulatto fiction popular until the middle of the century, like 'Passing' it describes a woman living in a hellish world where freedom can only be at the price of deception and acquiescence. The protagonists flees her stifling college job teaching in the deep south to Chicago and later to Europe but the world offer no escape and her efforts at finding herself end up futile and her sould crushed, This is then th tragedy of a quiet life.
3 people found this helpful
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LindaL
4.0 out of 5 stars Great choice for a book club...lots to discuss
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2021
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“Always she had wanted, not money, but the things which money could give, leisure, attention, beautiful surroundings. Things. Things. Things.” (p. 63). Kindle Edition.

This book’s title does not refer to literal quicksand. Rather, Helga Crane, the protagonist, is figuratively entrapped and frustrated as though she is in quicksand. The story begins as Helga, a biracial woman, is teaching at Naxos, a southern school for American Blacks, in the 1920s. Helga believed that the school promulgated the superiority of Caucasians, and she thought it was disgraceful to her people to pretend to educate them in such a place. So when she abruptly quit, she uttered these words to Dr. Robert Anderson, the Black principal:

“Well, for one thing, I hate hypocrisy. I hate cruelty to students, and to teachers who can’t fight back. I hate backbiting, and sneaking, and petty jealousy. Naxos? It’s hardly a place at all. It’s more like some loathsome, venomous disease. Ugh! Everybody spending his time in a malicious hunting for the weaknesses of others, spying, grudging, scratching.” (p. 18). <!--more-->

Dr. Anderson shows up again in the novel, and it is apparent that Helga is attracted to him. However, as Helga begins the next part of her life’s journey by taking a train to Chicago, the reader soon realizes how discontent and restless Helga is. Naxos represented the Anglo-Saxon world. However, when she begins to encounter other people, white, black and biracial, they seem charming and alluring at first but continually remind her of the hypocrisy of society, especially when it comes to racial discrimination.

She hopes at first to receive assistance from her Uncle Peter, who had funded her schooling. But, when that doesn’t work out, she ends up relying on the resources of a YWCA in Chicago, where she eventually meets Mrs. Hayes-Rore, who hires Helga to travel from Chicago to New York with her and help her prepare speeches. Mrs. Hayes-Rore is also mixed race and has the social prestige that Helga seeks. Mrs. Hayes-Rore introduces her to Anne Grey, a socialite widow who shares her home with her in New York until she has the opportunity to visit her aunt and uncle in Denmark. In Denmark, she has the chance to marry an artist, but she returns to New York with uncertain goals and eventually marries, but she never loses her impulsive nature.

In many ways, Helga is an unlikeable character. Still, Nella Larson has created her to force readers to consider the plight of biracial people and people of color in multiple geographic locations: The South, Chicago, New York, and Europe. Helga is cynical and discontent. She flees every time she approaches intimacy with another human being. She feels confined and powerless, yet she seeks higher social status. Hela is uncomfortable in her skin, identifies with neither the Whites nor Blacks and continually strives to reinvent herself.
5 people found this helpful
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Kat
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Must Read.
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016
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This book has an amazing outlook of a Half White-Half African American Woman trying to fit into 1920's society. Everything is either black or white, but the protagonist feels gray, and there is no set place for her. I would read this book again. Great view of feminism.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Mama P
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing author
Reviewed in Canada on October 28, 2021
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This novella is so well written. The author drew me into the character from the beginning and I read this in one night. Through the story of Helga, Larsen delves into the racial tensions of the Twenties.
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Davide
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo prodotto
Reviewed in Italy on March 9, 2024
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Ottimo acquisto, subito è arrivato
consigliatissimo
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Carmel Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2021
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Terrific read.
totally absorbing book, beautifully written, story will resonate with every woman. I loved it, will read more from this author.
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Oli
4.0 out of 5 stars AVOID AMAZON 4.99 VERSION
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2022
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Great novel but have to say the quality of the book is appalling. Its printed by amazon which explains why. Try to avoid the 4.99 edition trust me
One person found this helpful
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Knorr M.
2.0 out of 5 stars zerkratztes Cover
Reviewed in Germany on January 21, 2019
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Das Buch ist leider bereits recht "ramponiert" bei mir angekommen. Das Cover war zerkratzt & die Farbe zum Teil abgeschabt.
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