Queen Sugar is a book about a young woman named Charley. After inheriting a sugar cane farm from her late father, Charley and her young daughter Micah leave their hometown in California to embark on life in a deeply rural area of Louisiana. Once they arrive, they stay with Miss Honey, her grandmother, and reunite with her family including her estranged brother Ralph Angel and his son Blue. She connects with the locals like Mr. Preston and manages to even find love. The book focuses on Charley's various struggles including: succeeding as a farmer in a White male dominated occupation, being a good mother, tackling her complicated family dynamics, and finding out her own identity. The book manages to address issues of racial, gender, and geographical stereotypes.

Now for the pros, I liked Charley’s interactions with her family and the neighbors. Their exchanges and all their family scenarios were all very relatable and believable. I also liked how the book focused on Charley’s various layers as a Black woman and an independent spirit. All of these facades of the book made for great discussions in our book club.

Now for the cons, I found this book to be overly descriptive (which seemed unnecessary in many instances) especially when the book referenced sugar cane farming. I appreciate that the writer did thorough research of the subject matter, but the sugar cane farming references seemed to isolate me as a reader. I was more interested in the plight of the characters than sugar cane farmer lingo and sugar cane harvesting rituals. The last chapters and the ending were the most disappointing because it was so hurried. The time spent on the metaphors and descriptions of sugar cane could have been better spent with deeper character development and more of a solid ending.

My book club was also unimpressed with the book. Many members found the book to be slow and lacked the ability to captivate the reader in the first couple of chapters. One of the members listened to the audio version and said the book couldn’t keep her attention even in standstill traffic. There was also an issue determining the timeframe that this book was set and if the city was based on a real city or a fictional one. My book club encompasses all Louisiana natives, and it was obvious to us that the book was written by someone who was not from the state. The descriptions of the areas and the people seemed almost contrived which turned off our readers. On a final note, I think Queen Sugar is worthy of read for a good book discussion group because not so good books can make for great conversation. Otherwise, I would not likely recommend it.