Women, Coming-of-Age and Secrets in Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John

The mysterious and unspoken secrets of life can be a source of fascination for young people. The bildungsroman quest for identity is often coupled with a protagonist's attempts to decode a range of secrets. Jamaica Kincaid's work of fiction, Annie John (1985), illustrates this journey. In this novel, the female protagonist's maturity and character development become possible only through her persistent efforts to decode the secrets of life. This paper discusses how, in a series of adventures, those secrets are embedded into Annie's story and how her coming-of-age mystery is ultimately resolved.