Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys | 1966 | W. W. Norton | Paperback $14.95
With Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys’ last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr. Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, and… well, this was a fantastic novel to pull me out of it.
TBQH, I might not have picked up this book if it weren’t for the word “Sargasso” in the title. Now, I know that might seem weird, but hear me out: I live on the Gulf Coast. Every year, we (or some other spot around the Gulf of Mexico) will get an influx of this Sargassum shit. I realize that might seem like a crazy reason to put a book on your to-read list — it happens to mention a type of seaweed in the title! oh joy! — but is it honestly any worse than “the cover is pretty” or “it’s a classic so people SHOULD read it”… ?
In any case, I am so glad that I put this on my list for Classics Club. Maybe this was just what I needed to read at this point in my life?
I’d recommend this to readers who are looking for a short but gorgeously haunting novel, whether or not you’ve already read Jane Eyre (though having that experience does make the story more poignant).
Links:
- ‘Wide Sargasso Sea Revisited’ at The Paris Review
- ‘Jean Rhys: Prostitution, Alcoholism, and the Mad Woman in the Attic’ at The Independent
- ‘Charlotte Brontë May Have Started The Fire, but Jean Rhys Burned Down the House’ at LitHub
Publication information: Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 1966. Print.
Source: Personal library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
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