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Queenie  By  cover art

Queenie

By: Candice Carty-Williams
Narrated by: Shvorne Marks
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Interview: Listen in as Carty-Williams shares why her funny, buzzy debut novel, Queenie, hits on the importance of female friendships, mental health, learning people’s given names, and staying out of their hair. Literally.

Shvorne just captured [Queenie's] really layered way of looking at the world...
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  • Queenie
  • Shvorne just captured [Queenie's] really layered way of looking at the world...

Publisher's summary

One of Time’s 100 Best Books of the Year

One of NPR’s Best Books of 2019

Named One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2019 by Woman’s Day, Newsday, Publishers Weekly, Bustle, and Book Riot!

“[B]rilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking.” (Jojo Moyes, number one New York Times best-selling author of Me Before You)

For fans of Luster and I May Destroy You, a disarmingly honest, unapologetically Black, and undeniably witty debut novel that will speak to those who have gone looking for love and found something very different in its place.

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her White middle-class peers. After a messy breakup from her White long-term boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places...including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.

As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?” - all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.

With “fresh and honest” (Jojo Moyes) prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today’s world.

©2019 Candice Carty-Williams (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Featured Article: The Best Black Audiobook Narrators to Listen to Right Now


A skilled performer has the ability to take the written word to new heights, infusing an author’s work with empathy, warmth, and excitement. And representation matters just as much for audio as it does for any visual medium: listeners should feel and hear themselves in art driven by powerful performers and authentic deliveries. We’ve gathered a few of the best Black audiobook narrators in the business and their can't-miss performances.

Editor's Pick

Modern-day adulting
"Candice Carty-Williams’s Queenie is the epitome of that refreshing new voice reviewers love to rave about. And rave I will. Her title character, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman in London at the tail end of a longterm relationship, is a bit of a hot mess—but a hot mess in which we can all recognize parts of ourselves. Her motley crew of girlfriends, whom she calls the Corgis, all shore her up in different ways as she navigates the landmines of her life, from racial/cultural expectations to the emotional trauma of her youth. Actress Shvorne Marks brings Queenie’s world to life with an accessible range of British accents, while highlighting the soul searching for peace that belies the breeziness with which Queenie tries to meet the world, and eventually finds that her path forward isn’t based on anyone but herself." —Abby W., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Queenie

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Omg

Shvorne Marks skips a lot of words as she’s reading! Is she actually reading the book, or is she cherry-picking? 🙄

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A tour through dysfunction, depression and men

An honest, hilarious story of a young woman coping with her past trauma, coming of age, and the shit the life keeps throwing your way. Americanah meets Bridget Jones is pretty apt. It's told from the POV from a black Jamaican woman in London and, as a result, is able to highlight issues and experiences that don't get told enough in literature. Not to mention the grey areas of unhealthy sex as well as body issues and mental health. Three cheers for tackling relatively heavy topics in a light weight format.

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it's okay!

Queenie is a story about things most black women endure. From being thought of as a sexual object, aggressive to the notion "Work twice as hard to be average". Her behavior was too over-the-top for my taste. Overall, good, funny story.

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AMAZING!!

It is a beautifully written book!! Every Black Women Needs to read this... When I tell you I identified so closely with this story it was surreal! There was a time in my life when I felt exactly how she felt! This book is such a blessing!! We need to have more open conversations about the mental health of black women! Therapy was one of the most transformative things I have done for my personal wellbeing in my life!!

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  • Overall
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    3 out of 5 stars

The character was a mess!

It took too long for her to begin to turn around. I found it unbelievable that she would allow herself to repeatedly be treated so poorly.

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Love/hate relationship with the protagonist

I could not stand Queenie in the beginning, but as the book went on I began to understand...and even somewhat relate to her. The narrator really made the book “pop.” I will listen to all books she narrates, even if it’s the dictionary. Haha.
This book was fantastic!

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Ride the ups and downs

This book started out strong and had me laughing from the opening lines. About halfway through, Queenie's problems seemed very repetitive, but about the time I was losing interest, the story picked back up again. Overall, it was a great read about a strong woman losing herself and figuring out where to go from there. There were many times I found myself laughing along and feeling all the emotions Queenie herself was feeling.

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Loved it!!!

Really enjoyed this book. It’s not a book I would normally pick unless someone told me about it. But I really love this book.

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Wonderfully Written and hysterically delicious!

I just adored this book with was laugh out loud hysterical, extremely familiar and definitely hit home about the thoughts of black people and our thoughts on therapy and trauma. The performance was AWESOME! I hope to read something new from the author very soon.

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Great read

A wonderful story... Amazingly written; with lots of great wit and humour. The narrator was awesome.

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