Annie John

Annie John is a haunting story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua, from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. A classic coming-of-age story in the tradition of The Catcher in the Rye and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Kincaid's novel focuses on a universal theme—the loss of childhood—and through Annie's voice—urgent, demanding to be heard―encourages readers to understand the fear and confusion children experience as they struggle with adolescence. When Annie turns twelve, her life changes in ways that are often mysterious to her: She starts menstruating, she notices boys for the first time, and she begins spending less time with her mother. Although Annie struggles to make sense of these shifts, she remains unaware that sex and domestic violence are inextricably linked in her home country.