Plei with Words Book Club is located in the L.A. area and meets every 3rd Sunday of the month from 3 - 5 p.m. The next scheduled meeting date is Sunday, Feburary 18th at Hutch's BBQ & Jamaican Cuisine. The restaurant is located at 390 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 449-8095.
The book we are currently reading is Passing, by Nella Larsen.
Beautiful, ambitious Clare Kendry, tired of accepting the narrow lot of black life when she looks white, chose to pass for white and cut herself off from all past relationships. Her childhood friend, Irene Redfield, can also pass, but has chosen not to, and is now married to a black man and has two sons. Each woman faces a dilemma: how much of her heritage can she keep or ignore without destroying her life? Clare, married to a white bigot who does not know about her black blood, desperately misses her old ties and traditions. Irene, living in New York with her successful doctor/husband, wants to ignore the negative parts of her heritage: she refuses to let her husband explain about lynching to their boys and rejects his desire to move to Brazil where he hopes to escape the racism he has seen in the United States. A chance encounter brings Clare and Irene together once again. As elegant, hypnotic, relentless Clare moves increasingly into Irene's life, Irene senses the danger Clare poses to her own safe existence. Although on the surface a story of passing, hypocrisy and adultery, Passing is far more complex than it might first appear, and compels us to ask ourselves where we draw our own lines.
If you are interested in joining the book club all you need to do is read the book and show up!!
