Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys's reputation was made upon publication of this passionate and heartbreaking novel, in which she brings into the light one of citsion's most mysterious characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". A sensual and protected young woman, the narrator grows up in the lush, natural world of the Caribbean. She is sold into marriage to the cold-hearted and prideful Rochester, who succumbs to his need for money and his lust. Yet he will make her pay for her ancestors' sins of slaveholding, excessive drinking and nihilistic despair by enslaving her as a prisoner in his bleak British home.

First sentence: THEY say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.

Year

2001

Language

English

Series

Norton Critical Editions

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Editions

28

Reader rating

4.0 / 5 (17)

Pages

270

ISBN

9780393960129

Data source: Wikidata