The mother-daughter relationship is a common topic in many of Jamaica Kincaid's novels. It is especially evident in Annie John, Lucy, and My Mother's Autobiography. This essay, however, will explore the mother-daughter relationship in Lucy. Lucy tells the story of a young woman who flees from a West Indian island to North America to work as an au pair for Mariah and Lewis, a young couple, and their four girls. As in her other books, particularly Annie John, Kincaid uses the mother-daughter relationship as a means to expose some of her underlying themes. Unlike her novel Annie John, however, Kincaid does not specify which West Indian island Lucy is from. It also appears to be set in the post-colonial period and there is evidence that this island was a colony of England. Evidence of the mother-daughter relationship theme is interspersed throughout Lucy's storyline. Much like Annie John, Lucy has an ambivalent relationship with her mother; one who has gone from one very intimate and loving to one full of deceit and contempt as Lucy's mother tries to impose her way of life on her daughter, being "mystified about how someone who comes from inside her would want to be someone different from her: “I had come to feel that my mother's love for me was destined exclusively to make me an echo of her; and I didn't know why but I felt that I would rather be dead than just become someone's echo (Page 36). Despite her physical absence, however, Lucy's mother continually occupies Lucy's thoughts, inspiring feelings of anger, contempt, longing, and regret. This is juxtaposed with the various aspects of British culture imposed on Lucy's home island. As a child, Lucy attended the “Queen Victoria Girls' School” (Page 18), a… middle of the road school… my education had been a failure and, in fact, life as a slut was quite fun, A thousand thanks. I wouldn't go home now, I said. I would never go home (Page 128-129). His final challenge against his mother is to burn all the unopened letters, a symbol of their separation. The last chapter is also titled Lucy. And it is in this chapter that Lucy finally emerges as an independent person. In conclusion, Kincaid uses the mother-daughter relationship in Lucy to also highlight and expose the parallels between systems of colonization and patriarchy. Bibliography Barwick, Jessica. “A Stranger in Your Skin: A Review of Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid.” 1990. VG: Voices from the Gaps: Women Artists and Writers of Color, an International Website. November 3 2008 .