I love reading books with protagonists who are different to myself! I get so much enjoyment from stepping outside of myself and into someone else's shoes - men, children, older people and people of different ethnicities, religions and social class. I think reading these sorts of books serves a dual purpose for me - it allows me to step outside of my own life and away from things that will remind me of it and into someone else's and allows me to understand so much more fully someone else's experiences.
Even fictionalised characters can provide a fantastic insight into the way of life of someone who is different to you. This is especially true in the cases of books which are written by authors who are from a similar standing to their characters - in gender, race, ethical or financial standpoints. I have read so much great work from non-white authors and today I wanted to share 3 of my absolute favourite books written by women of colour!
Luster by Raven Leilani
"I want to be uncomplicated and undemanding. I want no friction between his fantasy and the person I actually am. I want all that and I want none of it.”
Luster tells the story of Edie, a broke 23-year-old black woman who gets involved with a wealthy older white couple. For fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation or Fleabag, readers will recognise Edie’s dry observational narration dissecting office, racial and sexual politics – and the way all three intersect. Edie is a great representation of a flawed female protagonist who's decisions we may not all agree with but still root for.
Raven Leilani: Raven Leilani Baptiste (born August 26, 1990) is an American writer who publishes under the name Raven Leilani. Luster is her debut novel which was met with huge critical success upon its publication in 2020.
2. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
“The road to recovery is not linear. It's not straight. It's a bumpy path, with lots of twists and turns. But you're on the right track.”
Queenie tells the story of Queenie Jenkins, a vibrant, troubled 25-year-old British-Jamaican woman living in London as a newspaper culture writer who has been old-shouldered by her long-term boyfriend, Tom, and finds herself unable to seek comfort in things she previous would have enjoyed. This book contains topics of domestic abuse, generation trauma and the unrelenting difficulties of dating as a 20-something woman but at no point feels difficult to read thanks to Queenie's ability counter people's assumptions about her life.
Candice Carty Williams: (born 21 July 1989) is a British writer, best known for her 2019 debut novel, Queenie. She has written for publications including The Guardian, i-D, Vogue, The Sunday Times, BEAT Magazine, and Black Ballad. She became the first black women to win the British Book Awards "Book of the Year". Channel 4 has also commissioned Candice Carty-Williams to create a drama series based on the novel!
3. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
“Good bosses shouldn’t make you happy in a job that they wouldn’t want to do themselves."
Such A Fun Age tells the story of Emira Tucker, a college grad in her mid-20s who works as a nanny and is accused of kidnapping the young white child she babysits while in a supermarket. While her ambitious friends are beginning to make their way in the world, she’d be quite content to continue as a part-time babysitter, if only she weren’t about to age out of her parents’ health insurance. The novel switches between Emira's viewpoint and that of her wealthy employer, Alix. This is by far my favourite of the 3 novels mentioned, and one of my favourite books of 2020.
Kiley Reid: (born 1987) is an American novelist. She spent six years caring for the children of wealthy Manhattanites, began working on Such a Fun Age while applying to graduate school. She completed it while earning her MFA degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship and taught undergraduate creative writing workshops with a focus on race and class.
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