A Small Place: A Novel by Jamaica Kincaid with Illustrations by Stephen Hillman

Corey Davis: Used for a course. Great book

Canada on Apr 05, 2023

Kanimoli Ramaiah: Jamaica Kincaid nailed it by describing what ailed Antigua. It was just people, largely those from other continents. Those who came to conquer the people of the small island. Remove the outsiders and the corrupt Antiguans, you have a great island nation! Well done, lady!!

United States on May 16, 2022

Mr. G. Horsewood: This is the side of Antigua that visitors rarely see or question. Things have improved over recent years but this book makes you think about the background to some of the remaining ills

United Kingdom on Feb 18, 2022

Andrew: A fantastic read. I loved hearing the shift as Kincaid goes from a more accusatory tone to a gentler, more nostalgic tone as she discusses Antigua. This 80 page novel will give you more insight to Antigua than any travel guide ever could. If you're looking to get into more Jamaica Kincaid, this is a must-read.

United States on Jul 11, 2021

Vivek Tejuja: So, this is my first Kincaid read, and all thanks to the 2020 Reading Women Challenge. Their first prompt is an author from Caribbean or India. Since I’ve read a lot of women from India, I thought let’s give the Caribbean a shot and started with A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid – a rather short, but extremely powerful and engaging book about colonialism and its effects in Antigua. There were so many things I wasn’t aware about Antigua till I read A Small Place, and like I said I was only too happy to read something out of my comfort zone and thereby discover the writing of an author I had intended to read for a while.

A Small Place is a memoir, it is also a history of Antigua in a way, it is also an essay of anger against the people who colonised Antigua, it is also a voice of great empathy that Kincaid has for her country and people. The book begins with an attack on tourists who visit Antigua – what they expect and choose to see versus what the place is.

A Small Place is a short book – but extremely powerful and angry. Kincaid writes about home – about what it meant to her, and what has become of it. Of how the English ruled them, and how their...

India on Jan 01, 2020

Arega Eniyew: In her book A Small Place the author Jamaica Kincaid reflects on the debilitating impacts of colonialism and slavery on her people, Antiguans. The narrator does not tell her audience, which are tourists, about the beauty of Antigua, the warm and beautiful weather of the country, or the magnificent even about beaches. She straightforwardly confronts her audience as tourists and informs them about their lack of awareness of the corrupt political system in the place they are visiting and the people who suffering consequently from outcomes. She is telling them if they were intelligent enough, they would not travel the long journey from their land to the place of Antigua in order to build up the corrupt political system. In this book, the most important themes that the author deals with are slavery, colonialism, corruption. The country is naturally beautiful and has thriving tourism industry, however, the underlining problems of corrupt system that was inherited from the slavery and colonialism, oppresses its citizens. The deep-rooted negative effects of these two brutal and inhumane systems are still visible in the political and socio economic situations of Antigua. The leaders are...

United States on Dec 15, 2018

Jacob Hellman: A Small Place tells the story of the island of Antigua through the eyes of its author, Jamaica Kincaid, an Antiguan now living in the United States. It was originally an essay for The New Yorker, but was rejected, which I guess was good for Kincaid. We start in second person, with Kincaid narrating the arrival of "you," the tourist, on the island of Antigua, and all of the wonderful activities - the beach, the food, the hotel - that you will experience. She then takes a turn towards with the pragmatic, detailing the island's faults that are unseen to the tourist eye, including but not limited to: the island's lack of proper sanitation and health care; the collapse of banking and local food production; hotels enforcing neo-colonialism by training native Antiguans to serve tourists; the corruption of the government, mostly of Syrian descent...

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United States on Jan 14, 2016

Andrew B: Having lived 6 months in Antigua, a decade after this was written, I found Kincaird's account interesting, and can emphathise with the scathing, stream of consciousness this book heaps on this little Island nation that has a dark and ugly side. If you're lying on its beaches marvelling at the sunshine and Caribbean atmosphere it's important to see this little Banana Republic from this perspective. It's a pity the author has to be so negative but in context it's a short and necessary read that might apply to my own native Zimbabwe or any post colonial country that has become a disappointment of missed opportunity, corruption and abuse of power. If this is your first encounter with Kincaird's writing, be warned: she can be cynical and cutting and go straight for the heart of the matter, telling it like it is. Perhaps try some of her other writing, but she's an oblique writer with a chip on her shoulder.

United Kingdom on Sep 06, 2014

The Brixtonian: This book didn't stop me from visiting Antigua at all, in fact, Jamaica Kincaid's observations in 'A Small Place' were spot on.

When I visited the island before I read her book, I always had my 'tourist hat on', and was oblivious to
the struggles of the indigenous population; the corruption that still haunts their politicians; and the failed
legacies that the British had left behind some time ago.

It was only after I had read her book, that everything she had written, fell into place when I went back to visit again.

The majority of cars were still in a much better state than the homes where people lived, and many of the islanders
that I spoke to were always complaining about the influx of the Guyanese & the Syrians who were hindering their own
job prospects, also, the politicians were still 'ducking & diving' to avoid the smears of corruption; and not forgetting
the influence of the long departed British is still much in evidence to this day (you only have to look at the
decaying statues & monuments, and the over reliance on a judicial system that still prolongs many a murder
trial on this island).

An evocative read, but...

United Kingdom on Jul 16, 2012

kiki: I love this book because it is beautifully written- lyrical, poetic, smart. I think she captures her complicated opinions on the culture and history of Antigua wonderfully. It's a brutally honest book, which I think is refreshing. As far as I know, and I may be wrong, she doesn't really represent this as anything other than her opinion. So by "brutally honest," I don't mean everything in it is true, in a textbook kind of way. I just mean that she expresses an eloquent, honest, complicated, contradictory portrait of how she feels. And the writing is beautiful. It's best described as a "poetic essay." If you're looking for a travel guide or a straight non-fiction history book, this isn't it and it shouldn't be marketed that way.

I don't feel strongly about the politics of this book, nor did I feel particularly hated (I'm a white American), but I guess I could see how you might feel that way if you are the sort of person who takes everything personally.

United States on Nov 08, 2009