Lucy

A slim but rich slice of life. I first wanted to read this because years ago, I once read it was one of Zoe Saldana's favorite books, and at the time I was super interested in what celebrities had on their bookshelves? But even after that phase passed, the synopsis still intrigued me, so I knew I'd get around to it eventually.

Lucy is 19 and has just crossed the ocean from her home in the West Indies (assuming Antigua, since that's where Kincaid is from), in order to be a live-in nanny for a young family in New York. She's simultaneously so young and so world-weary, in the ways she thinks about herself, her mother, the world she knew and hated, the world she now knows but sees with skepticism. She says she loves her employer, Mariah, but I was never sure if this was meant with truth or sarcasm, honesty or what she felt she could get out of the relationship. Lucy seems generally unhappy, content to keep her distance, but it's never explained why, really, she is this way, other than generally blaming her mother; the book is too short to really be much of a character study, but she is interesting nonetheless. 3.5 stars.