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Annie John

By: Jamaica Kincaid
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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Summary

Jamaica Kincaid presents a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua.

An adored only child, Annie has until recently lived an idyllic life. She is inseparable from her beautiful mother, a powerful presence at the very center of the little girl's existence. Loved and cherished, Annie grows and thrives within her mother's benign shadow. Looking back on her childhood, she reflects, "It was in such a paradise that I lived".

When she turns 12, however, Annie's life changes in ways that are often mysterious to her. She begins to question the cultural assumptions of her island world; at school she instinctively rebels against authority; and, most frighteningly, her mother, seeing Annie as a "young lady", ceases to be the source of unconditional adoration and takes on the new and unfamiliar guise of adversary.

At the end of her school years, Annie decides to leave Antigua and her family but not without a measure of sorrow, especially for the mother she once knew and never ceases to mourn. "For I could not be sure," she reflects, "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."

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, Annie John focuses on a universal, tragic, and often comic theme: the loss of childhood. Annie's voice - urgent, demanding to be heard - is one that will not soon be forgotten.

©1997 Jamaica Kincaid (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
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What listeners say about Annie John

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Loved it

I was instantly lost in the world of this little girl and her thoughts. I see that some other reviews comment on the narrator's accent. I am Caribbean and can report to you that the narrator is speaking with a Bajan accent, not an Antiguan accent, but this didn't detract from the story for me. I found this audiobook to be enchanting.

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Sunshine and adventures

Loved it transported through a magical childhood with some simularities to mine. Enchanting thought provoking and angst of growing pains.

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Beautiful

Wonderful story if childhood. The narrator is excellent with delivering the emotions felt and describing the scenes. Left you wanting a part 2.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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narrator accent is so bad

I struggled and couldn't finish this book as the accent used by the narrator was so bad. Not a Caribbean accent I have heard at all and often sounded like it was veering into a rural British county one.

A shame as the author tends to write really good stories .

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Lucy v Annie John

Lucy was my first introduction to Ms Kincaid's work, followed by Annie John, in which I found too many similarities with Lucy. More than once, I had to double check that I hadn't mistakenly pressed play on Lucy, instead of Annie John (audible) I find it disappointing that an intellectual should have this lazy approach to storytelling... I shan't continue listening to Annie John, nor will I risk reading any of Ms Kincaid's other writings.

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