Description
Queen Sugar is a contemporary fiction novel by Natalie Baszile, centred on family, identity, race and the challenges of starting over. When Charley Bordelon’s estranged father dies and unexpectedly leaves her 800 acres of sugarcane farmland in rural Louisiana, she leaves Los Angeles with her eleven-year-old daughter, Micah, to take on the unfamiliar life of a cane farmer. Arriving just before harvest season, Charley must learn to manage the farm while dealing with a homesick daughter, a troubled brother and a community where the traditions and racial inequalities of the past remain deeply entrenched.
As Charley struggles to establish herself, the farm becomes a setting for exploring family history, Southern identity, race and the realities of agriculture. Her inheritance offers the possibility of a new beginning, but making a life on the land forces her to confront complicated relationships and difficult questions about where she belongs. The novel offers an intimate portrayal of contemporary African American life in the American South, balancing hardship with humour, resilience and hope.
A strong choice for readers who enjoy contemporary Southern fiction, family stories and character-driven novels exploring race, identity and starting over.
