Queenie : a novel

Title:

Queenie : a novel

Author:

Carty-Williams, Candice, 1989- author.

Summary:

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places... including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth. As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, 'What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?' -- all of the questions today's woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.

Edition:

First Scout Press hardcover edition.

Physical Description:

330 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Psychological fiction.

Subject Term:

Jamaicans -- Fiction.

Women -- Identity -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

London (England) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Scout Press,

Publication Date:

2019

ISBN:

9781501196010

9781501196027

Publication Information:

New York : Scout Press, 2019.

Call Number:

CARTY

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003398305	Adult Fiction	CARTY	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY WOMAN'S DAY , NEWSDAY , PUBLISHERS WEEKLY , BUSTLE , AND BOOK RIOT !

"[B]rilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking." --Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You

For fans of Luster and I May Destroy You, a disarmingly honest, unapologetically black, and undeniably witty debut novel that will speak to those who have gone looking for love and found something very different in its place.

Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places...including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.

As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, "What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?"--all of the questions today's woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.

With "fresh and honest" (Jojo Moyes) prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today's world.

Author Notes

Candice Carty-Williams is a senior marketing executive at Vintage. In 2016, she created and launched the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, which aims to find, champion, and celebrate underrepresented writers. She contributes regularly to i-D , Refinery29 , BEAT Magazine , and more, and her pieces, especially those about blackness, sex, and identity, have been shared globally. Queenie is her first novel. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @CandiceC_W.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Carty-Williams's smart, fearless debut follows Queenie Jenkins, a Jamaican-British woman, after her longtime white boyfriend, Tom, asks for a "break." Queenie's impulsive behavior (promiscuity; distancing herself from friends) begins to unearth memories of childhood abuse, causing her to make more bad choices in an effort to alleviate her pain. When her career as a newspaper reporter begins to suffer and she's issued her final warning before being fired, she decides to confront her demons head on. To emerge from her crisis, Queenie begins psychotherapy, much to the consternation of her grandmother, who sees Queenie's mental health issues as a weakness she need only be strong to overcome. The result is a novel that stares directly into the pitfalls of being black in white spaces and (through flashbacks with Tom) the challenges of interracial relationships. Carty-Williams doesn't shy from the messiness of sexual relationships, racial justice issues such as police brutality, or Queenie's promiscuity, and the narrative is all the more effective for its boldness. This is an essential depiction of life as a black woman in the modern world, told in a way that makes Queenie dynamic and memorable. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

DEBUT This long-awaited first novel from Carty-Williams presents an updated take on Bridget Jones's Diary with the story of 25-year-old newspaper editor Queenie Jenkins and her Jamaican British family. In the midst of a prolonged breakup with boyfriend Tom, Queenie experiences a miscarriage and begins to feel adrift. Carty--Williams creates a fast-paced narrative in the form of texts between Queenie and close friends Kyazike, Darcy, and Cassandra. Interspersed are chapters set in both the past and the present, focusing on the beginnings of Queenie's unstable dating history, particularly being fetishized for her ethnicity, along with her evolving relationship with Tom and the racism she experiences from his family. The author takes care when including flashbacks to Queenie's difficult childhood and current efforts to incorporate social justice work into her life, and she is at her best when describing the stigma of mental health within black communities, especially as Queenie's grandparents question her decision to see a therapist. Yet we never fully understand Queenie's yearnings for Tom or why she feels continually drawn to him, and the Daniel Cleaver-inspired character, Ted, could have been better fleshed out. VERDICT Overall, a charming read for fans of women's fiction; Carty-Williams sets herself apart with her relatable and poignant writing. [See Prepub Alert, 10/1/18.]-Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.