If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see…’ So begins Jamaica Kincaid s powerful portrait of the damaged paradise that was her childhood home. The island of Antigua is a magical place of breathtaking beauty, with cloudless skies, dazzling blue waters, and majestic sunsets. But it is also a place of dramatic contrasts. What one doesn’t see while visiting this ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies is the sweeping corruption, the dilapidated schools and hospitals and homes, and the shameful legacy of its colonial past. In A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid candidly appraises where she grew up, and makes palpable the impact of European colonisation and tourism.