Quicksand  (1928) was the first novel by by Nella Larsen, an author associated with the Harlem Renaissance. A story with autobiographical elements, it was generally well received, though not a big seller.

Helga Crane, the main character, like Nella Larsen, is the mixed-race daughter of a white Danish mother and a black father.

The plot takes her back and forth from Denmark, “Naxos” (a thinly veiled version of the Tuskegee Institute, where Larsen worked briefly), and Harlem. Wherever Helga goes, she fails to find a community in which she can be comfortable with who she is.  Read More→