Annie John

Rambling Notes

I enjoyed this coming-of-age novella that explores the growth and transformation of the titular character from a small child who idolizes her mother into a teenager who wishes to be something greater than what others expect of her. Her love towards her mother morphs into something bitter and complicated. As Annie reaches puberty, her mom begins to hold higher standards, which (to me) seemed like her way of protecting Annie from the judgment of their neighbors on the island. Annie Sr. was the target of malicious gossip, I think because she married a man twice her age, a man who had relationships with other women on the island before Annie Sr? Anyway, this treatment is way she so viciously called Annie Jr. a slut after she spoke with some of her boy classmates. She is scared that her daughter will tarnish her own reputation. She does not want her daughter to be subjected to the whisperings behind her back just as she experienced.

Annie is very creative, as we saw when her first essay was so well received by her teacher. I can't find it right now but I watched a video about how creative-types continue reaching and raising their threshold for "weird," which may be why she became so bored about her home, her neighborhood, the whole dang island. While her mother wanted her to conform to the expectations of their neighbors, Annie felt restless, like a big fish in a small pond. There is a pretty obvious metaphor for this in the end of the book when she noted how her long legs overhang her small bed.

The ending was very bittersweet. She finally gets to leave her smothered life, but at the great cost of saying goodbye forever (or at least for a very, very long time). The final walk with her parents, and hugging her mom for the last time, made me cry so hard (it reminded me so much of when I moved away from my small town after high school).

I feel like there is so much more to explore about this book, including themes of colonialism, gender/sexuality, and the parallels between Annie Jr. and Annie Sr., but I will stop here because I'm already late writing this review and my copy of the book was returned to the library weeks ago.