Wide Sargasso Sea

Name: Wide Sargasso Sea
Author: Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys · 1966

Rhys gave the "madwoman in the attic" from Jane Eyre her name, her history, and her fire. Published in 1966, this postcolonial rewriting of Charlotte Bronte traces Bertha Rochester back to the Caribbean, to a Creole heiress named Antoinette. The result dismantles the original novel's assumptions about race, empire, and who gets to tell the story.

The case against

on who’s talking
“the writing is so confusing, it is nearly impossible to tell who is talking”
a book blog
on Part One
“found Part One of the story quite dense and hard to get to grips with”
four stars · a book blog
on the plot
“I wanted more plot. The novel feels a bit style over substance.”
a book blog
on the characters
“There is not one single ‘nice’ person in the whole book.”
three stars · a book blog