"A gorgeous debut and LoveReading Star Book containing heartache, joy, and laughter, meet Queenie as she attempts to cope with all that life can throw at her. "
A sharp and smart debut novel, containing real heart (both ache and joy). 25 year old Queenie is on a break from her boyfriend, can’t concentrate at work, and is having a hard time balancing her life. Feeling trapped as she moves in with her grandparents, she soon finds her life closing down. Within a few pages I was settled in my chair and didn’t budge as I read this in one wonderfully heady sitting. Popping backwards and forwards in time Candice Carty-Williams opens a doorway into Queenie’s soul. She created a connection for me to reach out and touch and I felt as though I had become a part of Queenie’s life. I was there with her as things went wrong, wanted to reassure, vent, be there to support her. There are parts that tiptoed across my awareness, spiking stray thoughts. Elsewhere is raw and unflinching making my senses burn, before a moment later I was tipped into a sunshiny smile and chortle. While Queenie herself breaks down stereotypes about black women, her friend Cassandra doesn’t do the same with regards to Jewish stereotypes. Big bad life in all its pain and glory stamps across the page. Queenie is a bold, fiercely provocative and thought-provoking read.
THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE NAMED ONE OF THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY MAIL AND EVENING STANDARD'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019
Meet Queenie. Your problematic fave hits Channel 4 as an 8-part series, written and executive produced by Candice Carty-Williams.
A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, friendship, race and family, Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way.
'An amazing novel about what it means to be a Black girl whose world is falling apart and needs to find the strength to put it back together' Roxane Gay
'Adorable, funny, heartbreaking' Nina Stibbe
'An important, timely and disarming novel, thirst-quenching and long overdue' Guardian
'A must-read novel about sex, selfhood, and the best friendships that get us through it all' Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City
A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family, Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way.