"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. It is a place of breathtaking natural beauty - of cloudless skies, dizzying blue waters and majestic sunsets. But it is also a land of dramatic contrasts. For what one doesn't see as a tourist is the sweeping corruption, the dilapidated schools and hospitals, and the shameful legacy of Antigua's colonial past. Kincaid's passionate essay compels us to think for the first time about the people behind the beautiful landscape - their history, customs and the words unsaid on their smiling lips.
