A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid will take you on the vacation you’ve dreamed of without you having to board a plane—and remind you why you should rethink your future vacation plans.
Kincaid gives a different take on the typical guidebook in A Small Place as she takes readers on a tour of the Carribean island Antigua. Known for its lush scenery and beautiful beaches, Antigua attracts tourists from all over the world looking for a sunny escape from reality. But underneath the island’s many resorts and sandy beaches lies an ugly truth. With a history of enslavement and colonization, Antigua has been riddled with a seemingly endless amount of corruption. Kincaid dives into the depths of Antigua’s history and infrastructure to reveal the brokenness and instability that emerged from the scars left behind by European colonizers and imperialists. From the lacking presence of a national library to politicians blinded by their lust for money and power, Kincaid gives a tour of the real Antigua to expose the crippling effects of postcolonialism on a small place like Antigua.
What stands out in this book is Kincaid’s choice to use the second person perspective in a completely different way. Kincaid weaves together a raw and powerful account of being constantly surrounded by postcolonialism and being ignored by the world. By writing in the second person perspective, she commands the reader’s attention towards the subtle corruption in the island that comes in forms of hospitality schools that echo the island’s history with slavery and expensive Japanese cars that embody the government’s prioritization of buisness over the wellbeing of its people. The book is short and is a little under a hundred pages but it packs a powerful punch.
If you’re looking for a book to pass time or to get back into reading, check out A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid!
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, and read our latest Tweets!