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by Kayla Hardy
A Voodoo witch must navigate a magically and racially divided nineteenth century New Orleans to save her mother—and the soul of the city itself—in this lush debut novel inspired by the life of Marie Laveau.
In 1843 New Orleans, the reigning Voodoo queen is Marie Laveau, feared by her enemies and followers alike. Her daughter, Marie "Ree" Laveau the Second, is everything her cutthroat and principled mother is not—spoiled and entitled, with a wickedly rebellious streak—and defies her mother at every turn. But Ree's world is turned upside down when she finds Marie comatose in the bayou, cursed by exiled Voodoo king Jon the Conjurer—Marie's former teacher, lover, and greatest enemy.
As Marie hovers on the brink of death, Ree races to uncover the secrets of her mother's life in search of a cure and gradually uncovers a web of alliances, dangers, and deception. What's worse, Henryk Broussard, Ree's long-missing childhood best friend, returns as a witch hunter of the Church, tasked with investigating her. With so many enemies circling, including a puritanical-minded Brotherhood of alchemists and the slave-holding mayor of the city, Ree must confront the past and face her mother's demons that have now become her own—or die trying.
Told in alternating timelines between Ree in the present and Marie's rise to power twenty-five years earlier, The Quarter Queen is an intimate yet epic portrait of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand one another, and a captivating exploration of racism, family, and womanhood.
"Hardy's debut historical fantasy is steeped in the magic of Black folklore, featuring several Voodoo spirits and competing forms of magic. The book builds suspense with several moving parts, two different perspectives, and plenty of revelations to keep readers turning pages. Perfect for fans of Nalo Hopkinson and Leslye Penelope." —Booklist
"An edgy, intoxicating novel pulsing with the dark heartbeat of 1840s New Orleans and a fiery mother-daughter dynamic I won't soon forget ... Readers will devour this!" —Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary
"A mesmerizing tale of a Voodoo queen and her daughter, secret magic orders, religious persecution, political intrigue, and a slave rebellion in the making—a fantastic read that left me wanting more!" —P. Djèlí Clark, Nebula Award–winning author of A Master of Djinn
This information about The Quarter Queen was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kayla Hardy is a mythology expert and multi-hyphenate author and screenwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. She earned her PhD in creative writing and African American literature from SUNY Binghamton University. Dr. Hardy is an adjunct professor at SUNY Binghamton University and is an accomplished scholar of Black folklore, mythology, and Voodoo. The Quarter Queen is her first novel.
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