This book is completely not what I was expecting from the description ("The painful and comic story of a 25 year-old black woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither") nor the opening few chapters.
Despite the word 'painful' I was thought I was going to get a light-hearted Bridget Jones's Diary for Millennials. Instead I got a hard-hitting, dark, intersectionally feminist, and timely novel about the societal pressures on 20-something women (especially WOC), childhood trauma, relationship breakdown, mental health, white privilege, systemic/institutional racism, and issues surrounding sexual harassment, consent and assault.
Carty-Williams writes in a warm and open fashion, and manages to bring in moments of humour and hope, but this is no easy ride, and nor should it be. With movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, there's no longer a place for Bridget Jones and Queenie is the diverse heroine needed for the current generation.
Highly recommended.
Despite the word 'painful' I was thought I was going to get a light-hearted Bridget Jones's Diary for Millennials. Instead I got a hard-hitting, dark, intersectionally feminist, and timely novel about the societal pressures on 20-something women (especially WOC), childhood trauma, relationship breakdown, mental health, white privilege, systemic/institutional racism, and issues surrounding sexual harassment, consent and assault.
Carty-Williams writes in a warm and open fashion, and manages to bring in moments of humour and hope, but this is no easy ride, and nor should it be. With movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, there's no longer a place for Bridget Jones and Queenie is the diverse heroine needed for the current generation.
Highly recommended.