We all know an Annie John! She is the complex yet poignant child who lives next door, or not far from you
under difficult circumstances. But not difficult enough for you to do anything about. The difference is that that she comes of age during the last days of colonialism in a tiny caribbean country - Antigua.
Every chapter of the novel is like an episode and so in many ways can stand alone. Each episode chronicles her struggles; morally, psychologically and intellectually. These struggles are artfully placed alonside the struggles that her island home''s government and people were also going through, in its transition from colonialism to independence.
In the novel Annie John''s difficult relationship with her mother represents well the similarly problematic relationship between Britain and its then colony of Antigua.
Kincaid does well to colourfully portray the richness of rural caribbean personalities, food and their physical environment . This makes the novels imagery deeply nostaligic to those who are familiar with that lifestyle, yet doing well not to alienate those who are not.
The novel may be placed into the category of post-colonial literature, but since it has proved to be a favourite worldwide - especially of many teenage girls - Kincaid''s novel has proven itslef far more universal.