This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Books & Authors" Podcast, presented with Books Forward, features debut author Kayla Hardy and her novel The Quarter Queen (Ballantine), a historical fantasy reimagining Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, and her rebellious daughter, Ree. Voodoo queens, secret societies, and the mother-daughter bond that can make or break a family, set in a magically and racially divided 1840s New Orleans. The book was named an Essence Most Anticipated Book of 2026 and a Book Riot Best New Book of March.

Watch the podcast above or listen to / download the audio version on Podbean.

Kayla 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, where she is an adjunct professor and a scholar of Black folklore, mythology, and Voodoo.

The Quarter Queen brings to life the historical figure of Marie Laveau, the infamously fierce and feared Voodoo Queen whose legacy still shapes New Orleans today, and her daughter, Marie "Ree" Laveau the Second: two generations of powerful witches in a magically and racially divided 19th century New Orleans.

Ree is everything her cutthroat and principled mother is not: spoiled and entitled, with a wickedly rebellious streak. But when Ree finds Marie comatose in the bayou, she must uncover the secrets of her mother's life in search of a cure. With so many enemies circling, including a puritanical Brotherhood of alchemists, the slaveholding mayor of the city, and Ree's childhood best friend turned witch hunter, 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, it is an intimate yet epic portrait of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand one another.

The Quarter Queen by Dr. Kayla Hardy is a dark historical fantasy that defies Hollywood myths, honoring the true spirit of New Orleans Voodoo. Sweeping across two generations of the legendary Laveau family, this rich story balances brutal historical realities with colorful magical lore.
Nancy J. Reid, Big Blend Media

Kayla shares how childhood summers in Louisiana hooked her on Marie Laveau, and what she learned about the real woman behind the legend: a free woman of color, a hairdresser, a plague nurse, and a devout Catholic.

Why Kayla sees slavery itself, the system, as the true villain of the book, and what it means to live inside rules you didn't create. We also talk about heroes, martyrs, and what makes someone good in a morally gray world.

Is it magic, psychology, or both? Kayla explains how Voodoo blends with Catholicism, and how faith, belief, and systems of power shape her characters.

The Brotherhood of alchemists in the novel is obsessed with purity. Kayla explores secret societies, colorism, Creole identity, and the urge to dominate.

When Ree finds her formidable mother comatose in the bayou, she has to uncover the secrets of Marie's past to save her. Kayla talks about Ree as the sinner to Marie's saint, and about what happens when mothers and daughters finally see each other as whole people.

The music, the swamps, and a culture that understands death and savors life, all of which run through the novel.

Kayla's years of writing and querying before the book deal, how a TV pilot became a novel, and her thoughts on traditional versus self-publishing and building an audience. We also ask whether The Quarter Queen could be a game.

Learn more about Kayla Hardy and The Quarter Queen at KaylaHardy.com

Books & Authors is presented with BooksForward.com

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