The Story Of Queenie
Candice Carty-Williams' first novel "Queenie" is not a book I likely would have read on my own, but it was chosen by a book group and I picked it up after completing a large project. It was not the light read I had anticipated but instead a challenging book. The story is set in contemporary London and narrated by the title character, Queenie Jenkins, 25. As the song says from the days of my youth, Queenie is "looking for love in all the wrong places".
I remember being in my mid-20s, nearly half a century ago with the difficulties of work, family, and romantic heartbreak. With that all-too common situation, I could relate to Queenie's plight even though we are markedly different beyond the difference in years. Queenie is a full-bodied black woman from a Jamaican family located in London. As the novel opens, Queenie has been asked to leave the aparment by her white boyfriend of three years. Queenie tries to convince herself that this will be a three month "break" in the relationship rather than a permanent "break-up". Her life quickly deteriorates as she needs to find housing with minimal income. She cannot concentrate at work. She has a long series of sexual relationships with abusive white men and her life apprears on the verge of collapse.
Queenie makes many bad choices mostly in the matter of men and the caliber of relationships she seeks out and accepts. I could feel for her across the lines of gender, race, place and time. Heartbreak and loneliness cross many lines. The story alternatived between being painful and in places being humorous.
I haven't stayed up with millenial trends and enjoyed seeing the texting, jargon, music, and cameraderie that Queenie shares with her small group of friends. They are different from anything I knew when I was young. Queenie's dysfunctional family situation was also different from what I knew, but I could understand both her need for independence and her need for comfort. I also understood to role of talk therapy in this book, which many people need at critical stages of life.
Much of this book in terms of race and politics passed me by. I had mixed feelings about the book but on the whole I am glad I got to know Queenie. There is something universal about hearbreak and failed romance in our modern world.
Robin Friedman
