Lucy
I am not really a fan of the “Bloom Where You’re Planted” adage. Do I think that one should “find the silver lining” when they end up in a place that doesn’t quite feel right? Yes, of course. (Been there, done that.) Do I think you can just slot a person into different environments and expect them to simply thrive to their fullest extent no matter what the environment? 100% no. This is the flip side of “homesick” — people often refer to this phrase in a gauzy, nostalgic way, but it also can be experienced as a byproduct of ending up somewhere that just doesn’t click.
Lucy is Jamaica Kincaid’s second novel and the fourth selection for #WeReadJamaicaKincaid organized by @ifthisisparadise. Kincaid’s work has an autobiographical bent, so although this is “fiction,” Lucy explores the world of a young woman from an unnamed Caribbean island (Kincaid is from Antigua) who travels to New York to become an au pair. Kincaid did the same.
What I’ve learned is that Kincaid is specifically gifted at infusing her writing with contemplative and complicated thoughts without employing tricky language and by embracing very simple (on the surface) plot lines. Lucy is the story of a young woman who discovers a new place and realizes that her “best self” isn’t a result of her place of birth — it’s going to emerge because she’s had the opportunity to experience something new.
And what makes an environment new or novel or different? Well, it’s lots of things, of course…and I think many would be quick to say “it’s the people.” But it’s not just that. What Kincaid does so beautifully is write about landscape and climate and topography and how those things make a place something specific and tangible. “It was as if the earth were a character with many different personalities.” (And can, therefore, bring out “different personalities” in ourselves?)
originally published on instagram