Candice Carty-Williams is a trailblazer. That trail, in many respects, started at Lewisham Library in South London. This big, cornerstone library provided Candice a ‘safe place’ during her childhood. Passing by the library at night, she’d gaze with wonder at the lights illuminating the library's sign. Later, during her teenage years, the place provided her a sanctuary. It became a home-from-home, a seminal venue. Candice describes in moving and compelling terms for Ex Libris how it feels to return to the library now, after some busy intervening years. Candice makes that return as a bestselling author. Her hit novel Queenie compellingly charts a year in the life of a 25-year-old woman, Queenie Jenkins, as she navigates life, love, race and family. Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo calls the book ‘a deliciously funny, characterful, topical and thrilling novel for our times.’ Like her eponymous heroine, Candice Carty-Williams is someone full of honesty, humour and heart. Her breakout creation has captured the imaginations of countless readers: Queenie was the highest-earning debut hardback novel in the UK last year and was shortlisted, among other prizes, for the Costa First Novel Award. It is now out in paperback (in a range of colours). Joining Ben and Candice for this episode are Lewisham’s Library Manager, Chris Moore, and Rachel New, Outreach Officer for Lewisham Libraries. ... A full transcript of this episode of Ex Libris, featuring Candice Carty-Williams, runs below: Candice Carty-Williams’s novel, Queenie, compellingly charts a year in the life of a 25 year old black woman, Queenie Jenkins, as she navigates life, love, family, friendship, money, bad dates, sex, mental health, social media, work pressures, race, politics, and, well, London. Queenie is a wonderful creation - funny, clever, unforgettable, and for me, most notably, brim full of heart. She has captured the imaginations of countless readers. The book was the highest earning debut hardback novel in the UK last year. It was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and is now out in paperback. Candice, like her eponymous heroine, is a trailblazer, no question. That trail, in many respects, started here at Lewisham library in South London. Let's go inside and hear more about that with Candice, but also Lewisham Library Operations Officer, Chris Moore, and Rachel New, Outreach Officer for Lewisham libraries. Interview Ben Holden: Candice, thank you so much for joining us in Lewisham library, and Rachel and Chris, thank you both too. Candice, when we asked you where you wanted to meet, of all the libraries and of all the bookshops in the world, you immediately chose Lewisham library. Can you tell us why? Candice Carty-Williams: I grew up in Streatham initially and then we moved to Ladywell, which is just down the road, when I was around eight, and I got into reading in a big way just because my childhood was quite a lonely one, and so books were sort of my saviour and my solace, and all these worlds to escape into. And when I was at school, that was the same thing, so I spent a lot of time in the school library. When I was in secondary school, something happened that, actually, I really wasn't involved in genuinely, but a group of us were excluded, and my stepdad at the time said, “You can leave the house when school begins and come home when school ends, because you can't be here”. And so I came to Lewisham library every day, which was an amazing thing for me. And so I have a lot of feels, because it was a really safe place when I didn't feel safe. Ben Holden: And so you’d come here every day for that period, and you continue to come here after that? Candice Carty-Williams: Exactly, but I’d come here before. I mean, who says to a child, “Go and just find somewhere to be for the whole day”? And luckily, I wasn't involved in any bad situations, because the library was here. Ben Holden: So you would be here all day and you'd be reading? Candice Carty-Williams: I'd be reading all day. I was reading, at the time, one book a day, and sometimes I would read two when I was here, just because I read so quickly, I always have, and so it was amazing just to feel safe in this space, because it does, it still feels like a safe place. And I remember when I was a child, I'd always go past it in the car in the night time, even when I wasn't going to be there in the day, and see the Lewisham Library sign in lights, and think it was the most incredible, glamorous thing that Lewisham had to offer. And so, of all the places that I thought I could go, because, you know, like a child's mind is kind of like, “What do I do? Where do I go?”, but immediately, I was like, “That place is going to look after me”. Ben Holden: You know, I like to say that they are society’s safe spaces. I love the lights, as well. Carnegie always insisted that there be a light...
