“A detailed and meticulously researched account. . . . Neither partisan nor judgmental, the author commendably preserves a detached yet sympathetic tone throughout.” — Times Literary Supplement
“The most comprehensive and thoughtfully researched biography on Simone to date.” — Women’s Review of Books
“Simone’s complex personality — arrogance and brilliance in equal measure — receives a long-overdue elaboration.” — Publishers Weekly
“If you believe a singer’s job is to sound pretty, you will have no use for Nina Simone. . . . And, as this even-handed biography makes clear, she certainly would have had no use for you.” — Washington Post Book World
“Simone’s life story is peculiar, beautiful, sometimes off-key and off-color but deeply, disturbingly dramatic. . . . Nadine Cohodas reinscribes into the historical record the musical contributions of a woman with prodigious gifts and sometimes unusual taste.” — Los Angeles Times
“Princess Noire, which includes photographs, an index and a bibliography, leaves the reader wanting even more.”—All About Jazz
“Offers many rich insights into [Simone’s] conflicted emotional world.”—CHOICE
“Cohodas infuses every scene with electrifying detail and penetrating insights into Simone’s struggles as an African American musician of phenomenal talent and exalted ambition. . . . The result is a wrenching story of how racism can undermine even the most ascendant life, and a dramatic portrait of an uncompromising, audacious, and beleaguered musical genius of conscience.” — Booklist
“A useful narrative.” — Journal of NC Association of Historians
“This biography is a reminder of the many performers, not generally thought of as Appalachian, who have roots in this region.” — Now & Then
