Jamaica Kincaid

The Autobiography of My Mother

Jamaica Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson in 1949 in relative poverty on the island of Antigua in the British West Indies. She was very close to her mother until three younger brothers were born in quick succession and Kincaid began to feel neglected. A permanent rift formed between the author and her mother, who had been her sole caregiver. Of her early life, Kincaid has said that the solitary reading of books, often beneath the front steps of her house, among lizards and bugs, was her sole source of comfort and inspiration.

From The Autobiography of My Mother:

“My mother died at the moment I was born, and so for my whole life there was nothing standing between myself and eternity; at my back was always a bleak, black wind.”

She received a solid education in Antigua, then still a British colony, but her mother made her leave school at seventeen and sent her to work in Manhattan as an au pair to help support her family. Kincaid, however, refused to send money home or respond to letters from home. She worked at a magazine for teen girls in New York City under the name Jamaica Kincaid and soon became a staff writer at The New Yorker, where the editor William Shawn helped nurture her literary gift into full fruition.

In 1979, she married Shawn’s son, Allen. They settled in Vermont and had two children. Kincaid converted to Judaism, his faith, although he was not observant. Years after their divorce in 2002, she wrote See Now Then, a clear-eyed portrait of a harrowing divorce much like her own. She remains in the house they shared, and still holds to her Judaism.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:

Annie John. A haunting coming-of-age story about an adored only child growing up on the island of Antigua that illustrates Kincaid’s exquisite prose.

Rum Chocolate Martini

Jamaica Kincaid is an Antiguan American novelist born in St. John’s, Antigua. A special Christmastime drink in Antigua is the sweet Ponche Kuba Cream Liqueur.

2 oz. Ponche Kuba Cream Liqueur

2 oz. chocolate liqueur

Grated dark chocolate (it’s good for you!)

Ice

Pour liqueurs into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with grated chocolate. Serves 1.