Lucy

by Jamaica Kincaid

Book Overview

The coming-of-age story of one of Jamaica Kincaid's most admired creations--newly available in paperback

Lucy, a teenage girl from the West Indies, comes to North America to work as an au pair for Lewis and Mariah and their four children. Lewis and Mariah are a thrice-blessed couple--handsome, rich, and seemingly happy. Yet, almost at once, Lucy begins to notice cracks in their beautiful facade. With mingled anger and compassion,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374527350
• ISBN13: 9780374527358
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Such a good book!

The 5/5 starts is for the book it’s self— the storyline. It’s pretty good— I’ve read it twice. & 5/5 stars for the condition it came in.

Aloof, distancing, dispassionate - and mesmerizing

The cadence of the speech patterns of the Caribbean comes through in Kincaid's writing. There is a lilting quality to the way she puts words together that lets you know exactly how she wants the lines to be read. It's easy to add the Carib accent, as well.Lucy is a bright young girl come from The Islands to work as au pair for a wealthy couple with 4 daughters. As Lucy matures and rises from her past to carve out her own definition of herself in this strange new world, the marriage between the parents of the little girls unravels.At the core of this book by Kincaid (and from others of her's I've read thus far)is the ambiguous love/hate relationship she has with her powerful mother.Read it!

An excellent book that needs to be read with an open mind

The central figure of this novel is a teenage girl from the West Indies working as an au pair for an American family. Her name is Lucy, and as the story opens, she describes her first day on the job, her surroundings, and the ambivalence of being away from home. Faced with a different cultural backdrop and elements of time, Lucy is able to compare, dismiss, and draw her own conclusive ideals based on the premise that the family she's working for are not perfect as originally thought. As she matures, and her life focuses on the realistic ramifications of how things really are in this new environment, we began to see a difference in mannerisms and expression.Jamaica Kincaid, the author, colors this drama with a unique imagery that forces the reader to dig a little deeper for definitive tones that allow you to understand Lucy's character makeup, and why she thinks as she does. It is this penchant for the subliminal that the author gives this girl, that tend to have you believe that poignancy is a given rather than an afterthought. I found it to be a simple story short on plot, with no conflicting analogies, but allowing the author to speak volumes for a well written expose of differing themes to give it a profound niche. To wit: Kincaid's lilting prose and narrative stylings lend itself to a certain eloquence that you almost forget that this is a story set in the '60s dealing with such things as the mental anguish of leaving a homeland and alienation from familial relations; mother-daughter relations; teenage sexuality and promiscuity; and Lucy's exploration into the art of kissing. But because it reads as a timeless element to what is being portrayed, it's much more than a moot point when subtext makes a case for good writing!If readers are not familiar with Jamaica Kincaid's style of writing, this could be a novel that would be easily misunderstood, or worse, not read at all lest a point be missed where Lucy's strong voice and individuality emerges as a character of complexity and strength. This book has continually been recommended for reading lists and the recipient of countless English classes. Using the first person singular sort of gives it a believable track where you almost wish that you were in Lucy's shoes to be able to make the decisions she makes. It is my overall feeling that the author used the simplistic approach to delve into the sort of social commentary intentionally avoiding a conventional plot to derive at a surprising ending. Readers will not only be captivated by how Lucy comes to terms with the idiosyncrasies she dealt with, but will be able to resonate within to know that something good came of Lucy's quest to find herself. This is an excellent book, and I recommend it to be read with an open mind and a liberal approach to understanding the world of a teenager dealing with such complexities and being a better woman for it. Read it and learn!

Simply and Beautifully Rendered

This is a very simple story which starts off with several conventional plot twists but ends on a poignant, and somewhat surprising, note. However, by the novel's end, Lucy manages to captivate the reader, and the story somehow manages to resonate within the reader long after the novel has been finished. Kincaid tells Lucy's story eloquently and lyrically and convincingly draws out several themes which help to give the story breadth and depth. Dispossession and alienation from one's homeland and family, mother-daughter relationships, the middle class family, and Lucy's sexuality are only some of the themes that are explored in the novel. Lucy's voice is strong and individual, and she clearly emerges as a character of complexity and strength.

simply authentic

I'm from the Caribbean and it is ironic that I had never heard of Jamaica Kincaid until I was in college. For that particular class we studied an excerpt from Annie John called the Circling Hand. That book was so great I searched and found more books by Mrs. Kincaid. Lucy was next. I absolutly loved this book. The angst that Lucy felt is so familiar to young women who immigrate from one country to another. I could feel all of her resentment and rage, her joy and her hopes her fitting in and not fitting in. I laughed and cried when I read and reread this book. As a matter of fact I think I will reread it again...