"Queen Mother is a sensitively written take on a century of Black history, and an absorbing account of a Black woman who survived the ravages of white supremacy and responded to the challenges of her life with intellectual curiosity, moral courage, and clarity. Ashley Farmer’s book pays homage not just to Queen Mother Moore, but also to the scores of Black women who have built movements and dreamt of transforming their worlds."
—Marcia Chatelain, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Franchise
"Queen Mother is a beautiful, brilliant, and important book. It’s as if an essential puzzle piece in Black history had been missing, and Ashley Farmer has filled it in, perfectly, with meticulous research and stirring prose. Unforgettable."
—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of King: A Life
"Impressive . . . . enlightening . . . . a commanding account of a tireless firebrand."
—Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Magisterial . . . . in a time of consolidating federal power and heightened oppression of minority groups, Queen Mother reminds readers that the value of the struggle is not in achieving landmark victories, but in continuing to move doggedly forward in the face of all adversity."
—Booklist (starred)
"Queen Mother is a deeply researched, beautifully written epic recounting Audley Moore's landmark, unsung life."
—Edda L. Fields-Black, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Combee
"A vigorous contribution to Black political history that restores an overlooked figure to the narrative."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Queen Mother is a monumental achievement. The meticulousness of Ashley Farmer's research is matched only by the grace of her prose. The result is a lucid, fascinating biography—a rendering worthy of the great Audley Moore herself."
—Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism
"An excellent, comprehensive study of an unjustly forgotten civil rights legend."
—Library Journal (starred)
"Queen Mother is a tour de force. Ashley Farmer has masterfully reconstructed the life of activist-intellectual Audley Moore from a scattered, unruly archive. What emerges is an immersive narrative that honors Moore—a political visionary and tactician—who fought tirelessly for the liberation of Black people around the globe. Our Queen is getting the recognition she has long deserved. And we, the heirs of her labors, will be blessed by this powerful reclamation of our collective past."
—Tanisha C. Ford, NAACP Image Award-winning author of Our Secret Society and Liberated Threads
"Our understanding of the history of Black activism, with its points both high and low, will be fuller for Farmer’s portrait of Moore, who offers those of us who struggle toward justice a model for playing the long game."
—Texas Observer
