Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

'A deliciously funny, characterful, topical and thrilling novel for our times' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize

'Brilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking' Jojo Moyes

'A must-read novel about sex, selfhood, and the best friendships that get us through it all' Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City

Queenie is a twenty-five-year-old Black woman living in south London, straddling Jamaican and British culture whilst slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white, middle-class peers, and beg to write about Black Lives Matter. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie finds herself seeking comfort in all the wrong places.

As Queenie veers from one regrettable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be? - the questions that every woman today must face in a world that keeps trying to provide the answers for them.

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family, Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way. A disarmingly honest, boldly political and truly inclusive tale that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and acceptance and found something very different in its place.

Candice Carty-Williams is a journalist, screenwriter, and author of the Sunday Times bestselling Queenie, a book described as 'vital', 'disarmingly honest' and 'boldly political'. In 2016, Candice created and launched the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, the first inclusive initiative of its kind in book publishing. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @CandiceC_W.

Hilarious, compelling, painful, enlightening, honest. I loved it.
Dolly Alderton

Queenie is a masterclass in how to write accessible political fiction about race and gender. Funny, relatable, sad, and hopeful; Candice Carty-Williams is a writer to watch.
Christie Watson

Brilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking
Jojo Moyes

Funny, wise and of the moment, this book and this writer are the ones to watch
Kit de Waal

Queenie has all the things you want in a debut novel - a startlingly fresh voice, characters you fall in love with from the very first page, and a joyous turn of phrase that makes this book almost impossible to put down. In turns hilariously funny and quietly devastating, Queenie is an important, timely story.
Louise O'Neill

Adorable, funny, heartbreaking

Queenie is the sort of novel you just can't stop talking about and want everyone you know to read. Snort your tea out funny one moment and utterly heart-breaking the next ... I absolutely loved it

Hilarious and off the wall and tender

Candice gives so generously with her joy, pain and humour ... a beautiful and compelling book

I ate this up in one greedy, joyous gulp. I loved Queenie and was cheering her on all the way

I was engrossed and loved Queenie - her humour, her pain, her politics, her friends, her family!

A really special book with much to say about black female identity, sexual politics, group chats & emotional becoming in a way that feels totally unforced. Filthy, funny & profound

Queenie is the best mate we all want - funny, sharp and more than a little vulnerable. I loved climbing inside her mind and wish I could have stayed longer. I adored this novel

Candice Carty Williams is my new favourite writer and she will be yours, too...I needed this book in my early twenties. I have never felt so seen in fiction. My heart is full.

I enjoyed Queenie a lot; sharp, relatable, and incredibly evocative

This smart, funny, and tender debut embraces a modern woman's messiness.
Booklist

A black Bridget Jones, perfectly of the moment.
Kirkus

One of the buzziest debuts of 2019
THE GUARDIAN

This year welcomes Candice Carty-Williams to the literary scene.
In 2016, best-selling author Jojo Moyes offered the use of her rural cottage to a wannabe novelist trying to finish a book; she selected Candice from more than 600 applicants.
GRAZIA

perfect for anyone who loved Fleabag
MAIL ON SUNDAY

Incredibly funny, this is the book that everyone will be talking about.
CLOSER

This debut is original, heart-breaking, funny and clever, and also carries many important messages... [this] book blew my mind in all the best ways. I'm still rooting for Queenie long after turning the final page.
DAILY MAIL

We are irresistibly drawn into Queenie's world by a romcom which is wry and often hilarious.
DAILY MIRROR

A candid and funny, no-holds-barred exploration of a young black Woman's life... Carty- Williams is a talented writer with a fresh perspective that the publishing industry desperately needs. Joyous, memorable and necessary.
EVENING STANDARD

This is an important, timely and disarming novel, thirst-quenching and long overdue: one that will be treasured by "any type of black girl" and hordes of other readers besides.
GUARDIAN

A blistering blend of funny, filthy, frank and dark, this is the mark of a true voice at work.
HEAT

A delight from start to finish... a little bit of Fleabag but less double-barrelled and more relatable
I

[A] smart and breezy comic debut
OBSERVER

Honest and heartfelt
PSYCHOLOGIES

Smart, thoughtful and funny
RED

We are irresistibly drawn into Queenie's world by this fresh romcom which is wry and often hilarious, even when it goes to some dark places.
SUNDAY EXPRESS

Filled with raw emotion tempered with wry humour, this debut is bitter-sweet.
SUNDAY MIRROR

This topical, timely debut's bracing frankness has a blazing purpose... vital and often funny
SUNDAY TIMES