Flight by Walter White

A groundbreaking novel of the Harlem Renaissance, Flight is considered a major text in the literature of ‘passing.' The novel revolves around Mimi Daquin, a light-complexioned African-American woman who takes on the identity of a white woman in New York City to leave her difficult past behind. Although she is met with success in her new life, she feels something missing.

Published amid controversy in 1926, FLIGHT focuses on the dilemma of Mimi Daquin, a New Orleans creole who, for a time, passes as white. An unexpected pregnancy causes Mimi to abandon her prosperous family and move to Harlem. Racial attitudes of the times--by both whites and blacks--are compellingly portrayed by author Walter White (1893-1955), a blond-haired, blue-eyed black man and NAACP activist.