Queenie

QUEENIE

by Candice Carty-Williams

 

Nomination: Women's Prize Longlist 2020

 

Date Read: October 15, 2021

 

I’m not going to lie and say this novel was smooth-sailing for me. There were moments when I was annoyed at Queenie’s inability to tell the vipers from the puppy dogs when I could see it coming a mile away. I got frustrated that she allowed herself to be treated like a doormat and/or cum-dumpster while ignoring her own pleasure or self-interest. 

 

More importantly, I felt like Queenie’s dabbling with the BLM movement was merely an attempt to make her seem more woke and relevant. She kept pitching ideas about race and police violence against the black community but never that hard or seriously. These forays into exposing systemic racism were more annoying than admirable. I felt like she needed to be more vigilant and serious about this issue or abandon it altogether.

 

Critics have compared Queenie to a black Bridget Jones and I have no idea if that proves true considering I haven’t read or watched Bridge Jones. All I can say is that Queenie has it mostly together for a 25 year old – live-in boyfriend, job in her chosen career, a good circle of girlfriends. In a matter of months, she finds herself dumped, her job on shaky ground, back living with her grandparents and down one pretty vicious friend. Anyone faced with these circumstances would mentally crumble and that’s exactly what happens to Queenie.

 

What I did appreciate here is the discussion about the black community’s relationship to mental health and therapy. I know there is a stigma that any type of mental disorder is considered weak and shameful. Carty-Williams’ treatment of this seemed honest and important. 

 

As a now-single woman, Queenie works her way through a series of terrible white men who have fetishized black women. And this, too, seemed like an honest and important discussion. She endures hearing such treasures as, “Tastes like chocolate” and how they like “curvy” women with “juicy asses.” These men somehow feel entitled to touch her and use her body in ways they would never violate a white woman. 

 

Overall, I found this a solid effort exploring some important themes and I grew to love Queenie as she wandered through mental healing and discovered her own voice. Towards the end, I was touched at how much her friends and family celebrated her progress and surrounded her with love and support. Just like a queen deserves.