Nella Larsen 
Quicksand 

The orphan of a Danish mother and a West Indian father, Helga Crane is a young woman caught between cultures and in search of a home. Though her beauty and education open many doors, as a biracial woman in 1920s America, Helga is accepted by neither the Black nor the white communities—instead remaining an object of curiosity and an outsider wherever she goes. Her furious quest for belonging will take her from Chicago to New York to Denmark: a journey rife with autobiographical parallels to Larsen’s own life. 



With its astonishingly contemporary take on identity and an angry, rebellious heroine,  
Quicksand is a classic novel ripe for rediscovery.

About the author

Nellallitea “Nella” Larsen (1891–1964) 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.