Candice Carty-Williams creates a masterpiece with her novel Queenie which depicts the life of a 25-year-old British-Jamaican, young woman trying to juggle her Journalistic work-life with her adventurous dating life and unique family. It covers important issues that a lot of black women face in their day to day lives, especially as a young woman. This book will evoke every emotion possible with its realistic nature on racism, mental health, friendships, romances, and family.
This powerful book takes you through the ups and downs that many women face when dealing with relationships, whether romantic or familial and how the people in our lives play a major role in how we develop as adults. It also shows us that its okay to not be okay and to seek help when you’re feeling like this, especially when a huge determining factor is mental illness.
So many black women suffer from mental illnesses and it can leave them feeling ashamed or they just bottle it up and never speak a word of it. That not only can be detrimental to their health, but can start to creep into every aspect of their lives. Seeking therapy or counseling can be challenging for women like this who are a part of a community that either shuns therapy or mocks it.
More than seven million African Americans suffer from mental illness and some don’t even know it. Mental health issues are often not discussed amongst the black community and mental health services are rarely used.
To have a book like this is refreshing because it lets black women know that they are not alone in the struggles they face and that they will overcome those struggles. While they might be suffering at the moment, their suffering is most definitely not their identity.
This book gives a voice to black women who are too afraid to use theirs. It opens up conversations about mental health and the impacts of close relationships. It helps black women to ask the question, “Do I value myself and my health?”
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