Intricate
It's probably best to be sitting down when reading Lucy. Like, don't try to read this standing up on the bus or something, because many of the sentences in this novel are so complex and intricate that they can leave you feeling a little dizzy.
Kincaid's writing is chock full of details, which results in sentences that are brimming with both dependent and independent clauses (for a quick grammar refresher on these thing-a-ma-jigs, check out this handy video).
On top of that, our author is head over heels in love with punctuation marks like colons, semicolons, and dashes—all of which allow her to make her sentences even longer. (See what we did there?)
Take this one, for example:
I could see that Dinah was attached to her beauty: she stroked her hair from the crown of her head all the way down, constantly; she would put her hands to her mouth, not in modesty but as a gesture to draw attention to her lips, which were perfectly shaped, the sort of lips used in advertisements for lipstick. (3.14)
See what we mean about all the clauses and punctuation marks? While some critics (and even some stuffy old English teachers) might take Kincaid to task for being so wordy, other readers might be way impressed with her ability to paint such a detailed picture in a single sentence.
You might also notice that the sentence above contains one of Kincaid's favorite structures; let's call it the "not this but that." So in the above sentence she says, "she would put her hands to her mouth, not in modesty but as a gesture to draw attention to her lips […]."
Sure, this kind of structure makes the writing a bit verbose (a fancier word for wordy). But it also allows Kincaid to express with exact precision what this particular character is all about.
Don't fret: with a little patience and practice, navigating the intricacies of Kincaid's writing gets easier—though you'll still probably want to remain seated.