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2treads's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
As I'm reading Lucy and absorbing the meaning of Kincaid's words, which she puts in sentences both simple and complex, but which all carry the weight of memory, legacy, heritage, inheritance, and identity. I am pulled along with Lucy as she tries to distance herself from where she is from, as she tries to shed the embedded trauma of colonialism yet is reminded of it in the simplest of ways: in the way she is spoken to, the stories recited to her, the people around her, and the very circumstance of her employ.
But then Lucy as a character is layered and familiar. Familiar in the way she was raised, the expectations put upon her female body, and her awareness of her ever-changing relationship with her mother. Kincaid gives us a young woman growing up and discovering not only herself but her desires. I love the agency that is given to her explorations and experiences. She is free to uncover what she likes and what gives her pleasure. And it is so empowering to see her grasp what she wants at the very instance she wants it.
Lucy is practical but also naive in some ways, but this world in which she now finds herself affords her more ways in which to grow and mature.
Lucy yearns for home as much as she yearns for a life she chose.
But then Lucy as a character is layered and familiar. Familiar in the way she was raised, the expectations put upon her female body, and her awareness of her ever-changing relationship with her mother. Kincaid gives us a young woman growing up and discovering not only herself but her desires. I love the agency that is given to her explorations and experiences. She is free to uncover what she likes and what gives her pleasure. And it is so empowering to see her grasp what she wants at the very instance she wants it.
Lucy is practical but also naive in some ways, but this world in which she now finds herself affords her more ways in which to grow and mature.
Lucy yearns for home as much as she yearns for a life she chose.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Abortion, Slavery, Sexism, and Racism
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