Annie John is a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up onthe island of Antigua. A classic comingofage story in the tradition of TheCatcher in... » 

Annie John is a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up onthe island of Antigua. A classic comingofage story in the tradition of TheCatcher in the Rye and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Kincaidsnovel focuses on a universal tragic and often comic theme the loss ofchildhood. Annies voiceurgent demanding to be heardis one that will notsoon be forgotten by readers.An adored only child Annie has until recently lived an idyllic life. She isinseparable from her beautiful mother a powerful presence who is the verycenter of the little girls existence. Loved and cherished Annie grows andthrives within her mothers benign shadow. Looking back on her childhood shereflects It was in such a paradise that I lived. When she turns twelvehowever Annies life changes in ways that are often mysterious to her. Shebegins to question the cultural assumptions of her island world at school sheinstinctively rebels against authority and most frighteningly her motherseeing Annie as a young lady ceases to be the source of unconditionaladoration and takes on the new and unfamiliar guise of adversary. At the end ofher school years Annie decides to leave Antigua and her family but notwithout a measure of sorrow especially for the mother she once knew and neverceases to mourn. For I could not be sure she reflects whether for the restof my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it wasreally her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world. «