Queenie is a compelling exploration of Black motherhood – I’m glad I gave it a second chance

By Olumayokun Ogunde, PhD Candidate in English, City, University of London

Like a lot of 20-something-year-old Black women, when the novel Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams debuted in 2019, I was quick to get my hands on it. After devouring it in a day, I was left with the frustration and dissatisfaction that many readers shared.

It’s difficult to spend time with a character who seems both familiar and foreign. Queenie is self-destructive and lost, and watching her pine after a white ex-boyfriend who doesn’t care about her and discard the friendships that seemed to be keeping…

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