Rebecca Hall, actress and director of the adaptation starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, presents Passing, Nella Larsen’s classic novel of the Harlem Renaissance exploring race, desire, and identity through two Black women whose lives become dangerously intertwined.

After a chance reunion in a Chicago hotel, Irene Redfield discovers that her childhood friend Clare Kendry has been hiding her Black heritage and passing as white. Though Clare has tried to leave her past behind, the two women are drawn into one another’s orbit, shifting—sometimes deliberately, sometimes not—between racial identities and communities, often lingering in the uneasy spaces between friend, enemy, and maybe something more. Passing is a Jazz Age masterpiece.

This is part of Simon & Schuster’s Female Filmmakers Collection, a series of books thoughtfully curated by female filmmakers. Each title includes an introduction by a woman who has made an indelible impact on cinema. Celebrate over a century of female filmmaking and discover the classics—timeless and modern—that inspired the creators behind your favorite films.