A Small Place

The small place of the title is Antigua, a nine-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies. It is a place of breathtaking natural beauty - of cloudless skies, dizzingly 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.