Quicksand
Born to a Danish woman and African American man, Helga Crane is torn from birth between disparate cultures. When her father abandons her and her mother while Helga is still very young, she and her mom move to the South. Helga takes up teaching black schoolchildren in Naxos, but she quickly becomes disgusted by her surroundings. She has an extreme wanderlust, lacking any tangible attachment to anyone or anything after her mother's death. Nevertheless her job pays well and she likes the principle, Dr. Robert Anderson. When her engagement to James Vayle is abruptly ended, Helga interprets it as a sign and submits her resignation.
Arriving in Chicago by train, Helga has decided to seek help from her Uncle Peter and his wife. They look down on their niece because she's black and refuse to help her. Destitute, Helga lives at the YWCA for a while before obtaining a job working for an aristocratic elderly widow, Mrs. Hayes-Rore. Eventually the two of them move to Harlem to live with another widow, Anne Gray. Helga really thrives for some time. She is among people who accept her and living as the richest among them, but still her discontent creeps in so that eventually she becomes convinced her mistress is an atrocious hypocrite and leaves.
Uncle Peter comes through for Helga, sending her enough money to travel to Denmark to stay with her aunt and uncle there. In Denmark Helga is once again accepted. Racism has no tight hold in this country. Additionally, Helga is well looked after and lives comfortably. She makes the acquaintance of Axel Olsen and falls in love with him. After his proposal, however, she is overwhelmed by a fear of commitment and flees the country under the excuse that she must attend Anne Gray's wedding. She's marrying Robert Anderson, Helga's former principle from Naxos. Although she knows he's engaged, Helga undertakes a brief romance with Anderson before giving up on love there too.
Living on the streets of Harlem, Helga is at her lowest. She's severely depressed and utterly alone. One day she wanders into a revival meeting at a local church and decides to convert. In her exuberance for the community, Helga strikes up a romance with the pastor, Reverand Pleasant Green. They marry and move to Alabama to steward a small congregation where Helga will be responsible for the women. Though she is happy to belong and have a purpose, Helga is soon exhausted. She gives birth to four children in quick succession, the youngest of which dies in infancy. Overwhelmed by her change of circumstances, multitude of new responsibilities, as well as facing her husband's emotional lack of availability, Helga starts devising an escape. She learns that she's pregnant again before she can leave.
