Light-skinned and deliberately "passing" for white, Clare Kendry is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage. Clare's childhood friend Irene Redfield has chosen to remain within the Black community, and is both allured and repelled by Clare's risky decision. After frequenting gatherings together in Harlem, Clare finds herself drawn to the past she has forsaken, but in Nella Larsen's 1929 classic, she has also become enthralled by Irene.