Contemporary Fiction: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

I never read Bridget Jones's Diary, but I have read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. So when this book was compared to the both of them, I decided to try it out. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams follows a Jamaican British woman as she looks for love in modern-day London, but of course, finds many other things along the way.

The Situation: Twenty-five year-old Queenie Jenkins has just moved into a shared living space with two strangers. After being asked to move out of the apartment she shared with her long-time boyfriend, Tom, Queenie had to settle with what she could afford, which in London is not much. This interruption in her and Tom's relationship has caused Queenie to lose focus on her work as a journalist at the Daily Read. She is constantly chatting with her best friend Darcy at her desk instead of sitting at her own, while getting someone else to do her work for her, and it is not like her boss hasn't noticed. Even so, she manages to keep moving along, even with the added distraction of Ted, a man who also works in the building and who cannot stop emailing Queenie and giving her compliments. Ted is not the only man who is after Queenie, proving that her break with Tom is not about her physical appearance. She wants to give him the space he asked for, while also staying close enough to pick up where they left off when he is ready.

The Problem: When it comes to the men that Queenie chooses while she is still missing Tom, she seems to attract and pick the worst of the worst. If they aren't fetishizing her blackness, then they are married, or have a girlfriend, of have some seriously questionable opinions regarding race relations. Even so, Queenie cannot stop seeing them, and these interactions only affirm the beliefs she has about herself. Some of her friends and family believe it is all because she insists on only dating white men, but a past experience takes black men completely out of the equation. Soon, things are spiraling out of control, not only with men, but with her friends and at her job. Despite her past and all of her baggage, Queenie must come to realize that nearly everything that is happening to her is of her own doing. How does someone get better when they are their own worst enemy?

Genre, Themes, History: This is a fiction novel set in London, England, and focusing on the experience of a young Jamaican British woman who is starting out in her adult life. After a break-up with her long-time boyfriend, Queenie must move out of their shared space and attempt to navigate life on her own, although she always has her closest friends, and her family is not far away. Though she is comfortable in her own body (for the most part), and is quick to tell anyone and everyone not to touch her hair, past and current experiences have Queenie believing she is unworthy and unlovable. After signing up for a dating app, she gets plenty of interest and messages, though many border on harassment (or simply are harassment), and the few she follows through with do not exactly go well. But even with all of the attention from men, the support of her friends, and the intrusions of her family, Queenie's ultimate goal is to get back together with Tom. She knows this break is temporary (and kind of her fault), but she is having a hard time giving him the space he asked for, while endlessly wondering when she will be able to move her stuff back in. 

My Verdict: I had a hard time connecting with this one at first, possibly because of Queenie being somewhat all over the place. The break-up throws her for a complete loop, so she dives directly into chaos with a speed I had trouble keeping up with. But slowly and surely, the story unfolds to reveal that it is more than just a chronicle of the men Queenie insisted on self-destructing with. Eventually you get more about her history, more about her family, and then more about what it is like to be a young black woman with opinions in modern-day London. I still had trouble relating to Queenie, but I at least got a better picture of where she was coming from as more of her world came into focus. What is most satisfying is being able to see Queenie's (slow) growth over the course of the novel, even if she had to have some incredibly hard lessons to get there, and it is all done with humor and honesty. 

Favorite Moment: When Queenie's grandmother was listing her reasons for not leaving South London, and many of the reasons had to deal with how she "didn't trust the buildings."

Favorite Character: I love Queenie's grandmother and grandfather, who both have supersonic hearing and can make out even the smallest whisper of a snide comment, even if it is made two rooms away.

Recommended Reading: I will always recommend Paul Beatty's The Sellout when it comes to books that deal with race relations with humor. But I will also recommend Thick, a collections of essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom.