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Spanning the first half of the 20th century, Queenie's story is one of heartbreak and triumph, love and loss and the power of family. Queenie's relationship with her best friend was seriously the best to read about, and I loved how this book showed that trauma is intergenerational and your own can blind you to other people's, but it also shows that relationships can be mended even when they seem irreparable, and that with the right support system, you can go far, and even when some are reluctantly part of it, they eventually come around and their support is unconditional. On top of her emotional disasters Queenie also has to deal with the everyday racism of those around her. Not always overt and aggressive but often subtle, unthinking, insensitive or ignorant. I was surprised at first at the level of incidents that she encounters, but then after some thought, realised that sadly, I wasn’t that surprised at all. Queenie did grow on me though and I enjoyed her character progression. I liked her friend, Kyazike, as well as her grandparents — While they were definitely old-fashioned, you could tell they cared about her and I found their dialogue together comical. Everyone in her life cares about her so much. Even, like, her boss. And whose boss cares about them?! This is capitalism we’re talking about.
I’ve always wanted to turn her life into a book, any time a family member mentions Queenie, someone says ‘it would make a great book’ and hopefully it has.”
Abstract
A fascinating historical novel which combines an education about the lives of England's poor working class and, most interestingly, the travelling fair folk of the early 20th century, with an entertaining tale. If you watch as much British TV, as I do, you would get a better idea if you imagine Queenie as a cross between "Fleabag" and "Chewing Gum." If you would like to know more about this period in history, I would strongly recommend two books by Frances and Michael Holmes: The Old Courts and Yards of Norwich by Frances and Michael Holmes This book really gave me perspective. There are a lot of situations that Queenie experiences in the book that I will never experience. I think it's important to put myself in someone else's shoes and have a better understanding of the types of things they go through and situations they are put through. At the same time though, there were a few situations I felt that I could relate to Queenie just as a woman in the modern world as well as someone with anxiety/depression.
The jumping off point to Queenie’s story might ring a bell to many of you as it derives from a timeless classic . . . . The owner of the fair – who had taken Queenie on as his own child – had died, and the First World War was breaking out.Laura said: “It would have been really difficult for her to return home to Norwich. She always said the fair was one of the happiest times in her life.
In the years to come Queenie tried to support her family by working in munitions factory during the war but often lost the roles for being “a bit of a clown”.I also must say, publishers - DON'T COMPARE THIS TO BRIDGET JONES. This is so not like Bridgette Jones, other than a young girl living in London and dating. Queenie is so much more. If you think you are going to find a Bridgette Jones here, skip this one. Romantic comedy this is NOT.
so either i will adore this book and give it 5 stars and think about it constantly, or i will forever be haunted by another quirky protagonist continually spilling coffee on herself and falling into the lap of not only colin firth but hugh grant??? I decided to break the process down into three parts- Ellen Hardy, Nellie Westrop and Queenie Read, all names Queenie held at different times in her life.
Customer reviews
Once I had all that information at my fingertips it was time to start writing! I didn’t make a conscious decision to write in Queenie’s own voice, I just started writing and it came out in the first person. Writing as Queenie was an emotional process, and I shed more than a few tears before the book was completed. This is the fictionalised life of the eponymous Queenie Read, a real person who was born in Norwich in 1900 as Ellen Hardy, “dragged up” in poverty in the yards of Norwich, and had, to say the least, a colourful life. LK Wilde brings the hard reality of that life to light in the early part of this story, demonstrating the real poverty and hardship that poor people in Norwich had to endure. We get to know the character of Ellen and her sisters and brothers, and how they had to look after their alcoholic parents. By turning her great-grandmother's life into a novel, LK Wilde has given Queenie immortality and a place in the hearts of many, many readers. What a character! Outgoing, a born leader, a showman (or show off), being sold to a travelling fair at the age of 6 turned out to be the best thing for our young heroine. First as Ellen, then Nell, then Queenie, our protagonist adapts and proves she is well able to take care of herself even in some very nasty situations. Yet there is a softness about her, a gentleness seen through her love for her siblings, and especially sister Florrie, which brings her close to us and makes us want the very best for her. There's pathos here, including in the plight of the mother, so often seen in those times, as well as in other tragedies that befall Queenie. But it's never sentimental and there's plenty of humour too. It would be unrealistic to expect these loose ends tied up, because racism will likely not be solved in a volume of literary fiction (no matter how good it is), but the disappearance of these storylines was disquieting.
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