The Ancient Greeks used to separate comedy and tragedy: you’d either go and have a good laugh at a lighthearted tale about a blundering fool, or combine a serious moral lesson with a good cry at the downfall of some proud hero. Even in Shakespearean times one generally went to see a play about one or the other. But in more recent days we’ve discovered that the two can be excellent together. In fact, comedy can be an incredibly effective way of addressing topics that we find distressing or difficult to talk about. With Queenie, Candace Carty-Williams is a master of this: the laugh-out-loud moments as the titular character navigates love, life and friendship in modern-day London serve to make the darker aspects of book all that more poignant. Queenie is not merely a commentary on modern life and dating in the big smoke, but a sharp-witted examination of everyday racism.
This book may be hilarious on the surface, as Queenie, a Black-British Jamaican twenty-something (with her gal pals aptly named “the Corgis”), tries to get back out there after her boyfriend suggests the couple take a break, but as the character falls into pitfall after pitfall, the laughing stops as you realise that there’s far more going on with Queenie. Her poor choices transpire to be the result of years of living with trauma and low self-worth.
This book will make you laugh, cringe, cry and at times just want to give the protagonist a good shake – but, as the serious elements sneak up on you, you’ll turn the last page with a sense of just wanting the world to do better by vulnerable women like Queenie.
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