The Quarter Queen - by Kayla Hardy (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

"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

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.

Review Quotes

"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

"The Quarter Queen deftly depicts a world populated by characters with as much texture and patina as the city it's set in. The prose is so lush, it brings a sensual beauty to even the most macabre moments. Kayla Hardy's meditation on maternal legacy and political intrigue, flavored with a heaping spoonful of Creole Voodoo, is truly something special."--Todd Harris, creator of Eyes of Wakanda

"A vibrant and dazzling historical fantasy that brings New Orleans to magical, menacing life through the eyes of a mother and daughter who must fight to survive and triumph over the powerful forces arrayed against them . . . This rich and absorbing novel captivated me from the first page to the last."--Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne

"The Quarter Queen is a delight. It is the sort of book I read slowly because such novels are few and far between these days. Kayla Hardy is an incredible talent--a gifted storyteller with rich, generous, bold prose--and utterly fearless."--Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of A Girl Is a Body of Water

"This incredibly lush tale brings new life to an iconic figure from American history. Hardy has a talent for pulling readers into the page, offering full immersion into nineteenth-century New Orleans and all its horrors and delights. . . . A beautiful, atmospheric debut."--O. O. Sangoyomi, author of Masquerade

About the Author

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.