The rain went on in this way for over three months. That went on for a few days, when suddenly the rain started to come down in a heavy torrent. No rain came right away with the black clouds, but then one day it started to drizzle, first in that annoying way of a drizzle, where it stings your face and your hands and your feet. Then, each day for a week or so, the clouds overhead turned black. There was nothing unusual about that drought was such a big part of our life that no one would even make a comment on it. After I had sat in this way for a while, to distract myself I would count my toes always it came out the same-I had ten of them.” I could only just sit and look at myself, feeling like the oldest person who had ever lived and who had not learned a single thing.

At that moment, just when I saw its size and felt its weight, I was beyond feeling sorry for myself, which is to say I was beyond tears. I would look at it and look at it until I had burned the cobwebs away, and then I would see that the ball was no bigger than a thimble, even though it weighed worlds. It sat somewhere-maybe in my belly, maybe in my heart I could not exactly tell-and it took the shape of a small black ball, all wrapped up in cobwebs. My unhappiness was something deep inside me, and when I closed my eyes I could even see it. It wasn’t the unhappiness of wanting a new dress, or the unhappiness of wanting to go to cinema on a Sunday afternoon and not being allowed to do so, or the unhappiness of being unable to solve some mystery in geometry, or the unhappiness at causing my dearest friend, Gwen, some pain. “In the year I turned fifteen, I felt more unhappy than I had ever imagined anyone could be. I’ll leave you with two of my favourite passages from the book. This is my second Jamaica Kincaid book and I love her more and more with every book. I loved the beautiful, complex portrayal of the relationship between Annie and her mother. ‘ Annie John‘ is a beautiful coming-of-age story. She tells us her story – how things were when she was a child, and how things were during her adolescent years, her close, beautiful, complex relationship with her mother, her affectionate relationship with her father, her best friends in school and outside, how her relationship with some of her best friends became intimate and romantic, about her school and teachers and life in Antigua during those times. I loved Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘A Small Island’, and so I thought I’ll read her book ‘ Annie John‘.Īnnie lives in the island of Antigua with her mom and dad.

Annie john kincaid