Annie John Summary

Annie John, a young girl who lives with her parents in Antigua, develops a fascination with death when she is ten years old. This obsession stems from spending a summer near a cemetery, leading her to frequent funeral parlors and attend wakes. When a young girl her age dies, Annie's excitement over attending the wake leads her to forget the fish for dinner. She lies about it, but her mother knows the truth and punishes her by making her eat dinner outside.

Annie and her mother share a special bond, spending their summers together and enjoying baths with herbs and spices from a local healer. Her admiration towards her mother is tainted when she walks in on her parents in an intimate moment, making her feel left out and neglected. She attempts to fill this void with her friendship with Gwen, a girl from her school. They grow close, but this relationship doesn't completely heal Annie's feelings of abandonment.

Over time, Annie befriends a carefree, tomboyish girl known as the Red Girl. She admires the girl's unstructured life, leading her to mimic her by playing marbles and engaging in petty thievery to buy her presents. However, the onset of her menstruation and the Red Girl's departure lead her to abandon this pastime. Annie's academic excellence leads her to become the prefect of her class, but a rebellious act lands her in trouble and she loses her title. A series of unfortunate events, including her mother tricking her into eating breadfruit which she despises, causes her to harbor resentment towards her mother. Eventually, she suffers a mental breakdown, but recovers through the care of her grandmother. At seventeen, she leaves Antigua to study nursing in England, seeking independence from her mother and a fresh start.