Queenie : godmother of Harlem
(Book)

"Originally published in French in 2021 by Anne Carrière, under the title Queenie, la marraine de Harlem."--Title page verso.

Map on lining papers.

Stephanie St. Clair was an infamous criminal who made herself a legend in Harlem in the 1930s. Born on a plantation in the French colony of Martinique, St. Clair left the island in 1912 and headed for America, eager to make a new life for herself. In New York, she found success, rising up through poverty and and battling extreme racism to become the ruthless queen of Harlem's mafia, and a fierce defender of the Black community. A racketeer and a bootlegger, St. Clair dedicated her wealth and compassion to the struggling masses of Harlem, giving loans and paying debts to those around her. But with Prohibition ending, and under threat by Italian mobsters seeking to take control of her operation, she launched a merciless war to save her territory and her skin. In an America still paralyzed by depression and segregation, St. Clair understood that her image was a tool she could use to establish her power and wield as a weapon against her opponents. St. Clair's story comes to life in a tense narrative, against a sometimes bloody backdrop of jazz and voodoo. The story tackles the themes of colonization, corruption, police violence, and racial identity, but above all, it celebrates the genius of a woman forgotten by history.,- From back cover.

In English; translated from the French.