pFacsimile of 1929 Edition. ampnbspClare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair elegant and ambitious she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage and has severed all ties to her past. Clareamprsquos childhood friend Irene Redfield just as lightskinned has chosen to remain within the African American community but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her familyamprsquos happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told othersampmdashand the secret fears they have buried within themselves.ampnbsp Critics have argued that through its attention to the way ampquotpassingampquot unhinges ideas of race class and gender the novel opens spaces for the creation of new selfgenerated identities.ampnbsp Since the late 20th century emPassing emhas received renewed attention from scholars because of its close examination of racial and sexual ambiguities and liminal spaces. ampnbspIt has achieved canonical status in many American universities.p