Cover Image: Queenie

Queenie

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Member Reviews

"My eyes must spend at least fifty per cent of any given day rolled to the back of my head."

As I flick through my digital copy of Queenie, I realised that I made far more notations than usual. So many lines of highlighter yellow, usually saved if I'm honest for corrections. In this case though, they are almost all affirmations. Queenie is a frustrating character, no doubt about it, and her choices are well...a choice. But it's still impossible to separate her admittedly extreme experiences from experiences that black women face every single day. Black women taught to be silent and know their place so that the moment they speak out even on microaggressions they are seen as angry, difficult, or lesser than. Navigating a world built on covert racism and the erasure of black suffering even by supposed liberal allies. Black women as exotic stereotypes, dehumanised and objectified. The steadfast belief in our community that mental health, wellness and so much else should be dismissed as 'a white thing'.

I see a lot of complaint that Queenie isn't the Bridget Jones that some readers expected, but in no way would those books be the same except in a superficial way. A twenty something WOC journalist living in London will not have the same story as her white counterpart. That is reality, and the picture that the author paints so entertainingly well. I am not British but saw my own twenties in this South London Sex In The City. And I'm positive that black families must have some international network because every time Grandad complained about the water rates I heard my own American grandmother in my head, chiding me about the electric bill every time I kept the fridge door open too long. So many issues hit the mark for me, and while it may have been a lot to digest in a single book I applaud the author for putting it out there in a relatable instead of preachy way.

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A political novel like no other! Candice Carty-William’s story of British Jamaican Queenie, her terrifying past, her rocky present, and her uncertain future is told through her heroine’s unique voice. Honest, funny and down to earth, she has taken to blanking the things in her life that cause her pain through one-night stands and alcohol. Whilst some might find the various sex scenes overly explicit, they are a powerful device allowing the reader to appreciate just how low Queenie’s opinion of herself sinks over the course of the story. At some point her self-medication will let her down badly, just as have a number of important people in her life, and Queenie will turn to the most shameful of solutions, according to her grandmother – therapy.
If this sounds like the premise for a depressing, turgid read, fear not. How many novels dare to begin with a jokey description of a gynaecological examination? Carty-Williams is able to take the really important issues of #BlackLivesMatter, cultural identity, social class, family and female friendships and explore them seriously whilst also being very funny. Her depictions of women across the generations celebrate their humour, wisdom and loyalty. Areas of South London, too, become characters in their own right: Peckham, Brixton, Camberwell and the Old Kent Road all come alive through descriptions of the architecture, the sounds and the smells. The author balances the narrative focus from present to past really effectively so that the reader is able to understand why Queenie is in her current state and yet the past, whilst crucial, never overshadows the here and now.
This is an original, brave and memorable tale which is not afraid to use humour to explore serious matters.
My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

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There was rather a lot of sexual content and I am not sure how that would sit with some audience. What I will say is that it was never out of context and was essential to the story of Queenie.
It was a novel totally driven by one character, Queenie. Queenie was 26, had a job on a newspaper and contemplating a break from her boyfriend Tom. The most important thing about Queenie was that she was black and the novel explored what it was to be young, black and living in modern day London.
I can’t say that it made for fun reading, in places it was harrowing as you watched on helplessly
As Queenie pushed her self destruct button. Why did she push that button was one of the many questions Carty-Williams asked. Was it her continual fight back at the inequality she faced in her personal and worklife? What about the treatment she endured from the many men she encountered, using her as a plaything, open season from them to do and say whatever they wanted to her? Did she bring it all on herself? For me it was a combination, yet I wanted her to fight back , I wanted people to listen to her, to treat her with respect.
Her friends, the Corgis were brilliant, their WhatsApp group full of brilliant dialogue that lifted the novel from the total doom and gloom that I could so easily have been.
Her grandparents were funny, set in their ways and their history perhaps hinted at Queenie’s present difficulties.
Carty-Williams maintained a wonderful balance, never preaching to us the reader but using Queenie to portray the life of a young black woman, that at times tugged strongly at your heartstrings, that made you angry but also filled you with a huge sense of frustration.
Carty-Williams let us make up our own minds, made us think and that is one of the reasons I liked this novel so much.
The other reason was Queenie, just a brilliantly realised character, who will live long in my mind and my heart.

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Despite being a 54 year old white woman living in rural England I absolutely LOVED Queenie..Candice Carty-Williams worked her way into my heart and I was championing Queenie from the start. I could relate to her story and to her life.
The book is sensitive, clever, quirky (I loved the use of the message group with her friends 'the Corgi's.) and it enabled me to see into the heart of this damaged but strong young woman.
I highly recommend this book. It has set the bar very high for my Best Books of 2019 list..
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read an early copy #NetGalley and Orion Publishing. #BlackLivesMatter

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Oh my god, i cannot praise this book enough, I loved it and devoured it within 24hours. I was glued to it on my commutes, my lunch break and sitting in the dark putting the preschooler to bed (thank you kindle!)

If you're a feminist - and even if you're not - if you read one book in 2019 you need to make it this book.

Queenie isn't having much luck. She's on a break from her boyfriend and her boss can't seem to see her and her family just don't get it.

From the opening lines Queenie gets straight into your heart and your head. The treatment she receives at the hands of employers, medical staff and her boyfriend's family is disgusting. But her friends - the Corgis - keep her going through it all.

I don't really have the words to explain why I loved this book so much, why it was shamefully eye-opening for me as a white woman and how I won't forget Queenie. But all I can see is read it and you'll love it too.

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