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A review by jaymoran
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
4.0
Out of the corner of one eye, I could see my mother. Out of the corner of the other eye, I could see her shadow on the wall, cast there by the lamplight. It was a big and solid shadow, and it looked so much like my mother that I became frightened. For I could not be sure whether for the rest of my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world.
Annie John is a coming of age novel about a young girl growing up in Antigua, and it predominantly focuses on her shifting relationship with her mother. At the beginning of the book, Annie and her mother have a close bond, one steeped in respect, adoration, and security, but, as Annie gets older, she struggles to understand why her mother is seemingly pushing her away and becoming harsher with her. This builds into resentment and, eventually, hate, and Annie begins to detach herself from the life she once loved so much.
Kincaid's writing isn't overtly beautiful, yet I would say that this is a beautiful book. It's not often you come across a coming of age novel where it balances youthful romanticism with a frank depiction of how growing up can hurt you in ways that you don't expect. The closer Annie comes to womanhood, the further away she becomes from the woman who was once the centre of her world, and that difficult experience is rarely captured in such a raw way. Kincaid never paints Annie as a sulking, ignorant child - in fact, she plants you so firmly in Annie's shoes that you feel the injustice, you feel every sting of rejection and confusion that she feels, even though, as an adult, you can probably understand what her mother is trying to do. All of that becomes a blur, and Kincaid successfully transplants you back into the position of a child.
The only reason that this book didn't quite get a 5 star rating from me is that I felt that Kincaid could've gone further - there are so many small profound moments in Annie's life, so many wonderful pieces of writing that encapsulate the experience of growing up, but I wanted more. It didn't quite go far enough for me, I wanted to spend more time with Annie.
Annie John is a coming of age novel about a young girl growing up in Antigua, and it predominantly focuses on her shifting relationship with her mother. At the beginning of the book, Annie and her mother have a close bond, one steeped in respect, adoration, and security, but, as Annie gets older, she struggles to understand why her mother is seemingly pushing her away and becoming harsher with her. This builds into resentment and, eventually, hate, and Annie begins to detach herself from the life she once loved so much.
Kincaid's writing isn't overtly beautiful, yet I would say that this is a beautiful book. It's not often you come across a coming of age novel where it balances youthful romanticism with a frank depiction of how growing up can hurt you in ways that you don't expect. The closer Annie comes to womanhood, the further away she becomes from the woman who was once the centre of her world, and that difficult experience is rarely captured in such a raw way. Kincaid never paints Annie as a sulking, ignorant child - in fact, she plants you so firmly in Annie's shoes that you feel the injustice, you feel every sting of rejection and confusion that she feels, even though, as an adult, you can probably understand what her mother is trying to do. All of that becomes a blur, and Kincaid successfully transplants you back into the position of a child.
The only reason that this book didn't quite get a 5 star rating from me is that I felt that Kincaid could've gone further - there are so many small profound moments in Annie's life, so many wonderful pieces of writing that encapsulate the experience of growing up, but I wanted more. It didn't quite go far enough for me, I wanted to spend more time with Annie.