Title: Queenie Author: Candace Carthy-Williams Formats Paperback, Hardback, Kindle & Audible From the very first paragraph, it is abundantly clear that, Queenie, a 25-year old, black British woman of Jamaican heritage, is firmly rooted in a world of turmoil; one, that she will, without question, need help getting out of. We are introduced to Queenie […]
Title:
Author:
Candace Carthy-Williams
Formats
Paperback, Hardback, Kindle & Audible
From the very first paragraph, it is abundantly clear that, Queenie, a 25-year old, black British woman of Jamaican heritage, is firmly rooted in a world of turmoil; one, that she will, without question, need help getting out of.
We are introduced to Queenie while she is laid out on a doctor’s table. While undergoing her examination, she texts almost endlessly seeking the support of a partner who has in all surety, checked out of their relationship. In the midst of this abandonment, as if to add insult to injury, she finds herself in a space where her healthcare providers seem determined to eliminate her as an active participant in her healthcare.
But hey, I don’t want to give away the whole story. You can grab the book. For now, allow me to address some of what were, to me, the most impressionable themes from the book.
Women Soldiering On
Without giving out too much, Queenie’s diagnosis is of significant emotional import. For lack of better words, it is emotionally devastating. However, she doesn’t take the time to deal with what her doctors have shared. She hops off the table and goes right back into life as normal: work, managing friendships, a broken relationship and immediately taking the task of moving to a new space.
Unaddressed Trauma
The most abundant and perhaps central theme in Candace Carthy-William’s freshman novel is unaddressed trauma.
As a young woman, Queenie experienced a barrage of traumatic experiences which remained untreated. This later reflects in superior self-destructive behavior. If nothing else, Queenie is a reminder to all who read to make the necessary effort to unpack the stories and traumas of their childhood in order to be able to construct and navigate healthier futures.
Mental Health in British-Caribbean Circles
Queenie knew that she needed help. Her friends tried to tell he subtly that she wasn’t her usual, happy self. Additionally, her behavior had began to drift far off from her norm. But she hesitated in getting help, in large part because of what she knew her typical Caribbean family’s reaction would be if she opted to go the route of therapy.
Queenie’s struggles, stories and journey feel familiar, not so much in a personal way, but in a Caribbean way. As a young Caribbean woman, I understood probably too well the aversion to unpacking the past and the stigma associated with mental health that is deeply characteristic of Caribbean societies and their diaspora. The book dealt with social issues that genuinely needed to be addressed. Even then, I’d give this book a 3.5/5 rating. Maybe it’s because the reviews which I read prior described the book as gut-busting-humorous, forcing me to come in with great expectations of what Caribbean humor should read and feel like. I didn’t feel like I got that humour. The themes were deeply serious, and I while I wasn’t displeased, I found very little humor in how raw and truthfully they were represented.
All in all this was a very good first attempt by Candace Carthy-Williams.