Quicksand is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, published in 1928. It explores cross-cultural and interracial themes, with the protagonist being Helga Crane, a mixed-race African American woman who struggles to find her identity in a world of racialized crisis in the 1920s. Helga's early years were spent with her Danish mother and white stepfather, who loathed her. The novel gives us a glimpse into the dichotomy of biracial identity and the divergence into two vastly different worlds as the protagonist travels through uniquely different cultural spaces ranging from Jazz Age Harlem to Copenhagen, Denmark.

During the 1920s, the "Lost Generation" began its transformation of American literature, with the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) sowing fear in the whole nation. The first-ever licensed radio station was created during the 1920s, and from 1910 to the 1930s, Harlem was in the "golden period" or the "Roaring 20's," shaping the path for many African Americans to display their art of music, dance, literature, and more.