A haunting and tragicomic tale of the end of childhood, Annie John is told with Jamaica Kincaid’s trademark candour and complexity, and is a true coming-of-age classic.

An adored only child growing up in Antigua, Annie has until recently lived a peaceful and content life. She is inseparable from her beautiful mother, a powerful and influential presence, who sits at the very centre of the little girl’s existence. Loved and cherished, Annie grows and thrives within her mother’s shadow.

When she turns twelve, 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 makes rebellious friends and frequently challenges 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.

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

So touching and familiar it could be happening to any of us . . . and that's exactly the book's strength, its wisdom, its truth * The New York Times Book Review *
What a writer – elegant, uncompromising, simultaneously direct and layered and complex. -- Ali Smith
So neon-bright that the traditional story of a young girl's passage into adolescence takes on a shimmering strangeness -- Elaine Kendall * Los Angeles Times *
An unaffectedly sumptuous, irresistible writer. . . thrilling -- Susan Sontag
I’ve read everything by Jamaica Kincaid, and I’ve still never read anyone like her. If you are new to Kincaid, I envy you. -- Jackie Kay

Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John's, Antigua. Her books include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, and My Brother. She lives with her family in Vermont.