"Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys
For several years now I have searched for an ebook edition of Wide Sargasso Sea. I cannot find it, and apparently neither can the many people that visit my site looking for it. Sorry! I believe whoever holds the rights to this book must have objections to publishing an ebook version of it. You will have to pick up a paperback at Amazon if you want to read this wonderful book, the review of which follows.
While doing some research on fan fiction, I came upon a comment that while it is widely derided as non-literary work, there does exist recognized literary writing that is, in essence, fan fiction. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was one of these examples.
The story is that of Antoinette Cosway, also known as Bertha Mason. If you think you've heard that name before, Bertha is the mad wife in the attic from Jane Eyre. Rhys tells Antoinette's story from her childhood in Jamaica to her hasty marriage to an unnamed Englishman and finally to her days as the mad wife in the attic in England.
The novel is remarkable on two accounts. One is how Rhys took Bertha out of Jane Eyre, such a neglected character in that story, and gave her a history and homeland. The sense of place is very strong--Jamaica is a beautiful yet sinister presence through the first parts of the story. The other noteworthy aspect of this book is the writing style; it is overwhelmingly sensual on every level--the colors, smells, sights, sounds.
Mostly the book makes you think. I followed a fine discussion of it on the C19 Forum and was in accord with many of the others who now wonder what to think of Rochester. Can I now read Jane Eyre without remembering his horrid behavior in Wide Sargasso Sea? And the mad wife--there is little or no sadness for her in Jane Eyre, yet reading her story in Wide Sargasso Sea is like reading a string of sad events that culminates in her tragic appearance in Jane Eyre. I can't say that I related to Rhys' characters or story, being so different from my own life experiences. However the story is compelling simply for its originality of content and style. It is a beautifully and sensually told story of a descent into madness--a madness that was hushed up for so long and is finally able fly free.
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Thank you for posting your thoughts on the novel. I just want to ask about the aspect of sensuality. Do you think that in relevance to the setting it is used to describe the filthiness of Antoinette. I mean 'filthy' in the amoral and unworthy of Rochester sense. I don't understand the perception of sensuality in the novel: the wildlife is sexy, in the morning Antoinette is dull but at night she is sexy. That is essentially the bond between her and her husband...her sensuality dying in her way not his. Sorry i think it was more of a discussion starter and not a question.
Hi Reem, thanks for your comments. Sensuality is definitely a large part of the novel. It's in the writing style, in the landscape, it hums through most of the dialog, particularly with Rochester. Perhaps he was intoxicated with it, and it drove him mad as well as Antoinette. Faced with the prospect of bringing such a sensual (read: amoral) creature back to England, he would rather lock her in the attic than expose her to society. As least that's the way I see it!
[...] both articles indicate, Jean Rhys wrote Bertha Rochester’s backstory in ”The Wide Sargasso Sea,” which won the Cheltenham Booker Prize in 2006 for the year 1966. Rhys’s sympathetic [...]
Ever heard of copyright? It is meant to protect artists and other creators by enabling them to enjoy some form of remuneration for their work. Only extremely rich and powerful multimillion pound earning writers can protect themselves from the massive theft of their income as a result of e-books. Most writers can only protect themselves by not going e-book. Here are a few figures: it costs about 25 p to produce a paperbook which is sold for £9 in a bookshop. The author, if lucky, gets about 5p. It costs next to nothing to produce an e-version which will be sold for £3 pounds and the author still gets only (p - except he won't be selling any copies, because e-books are so easily pirated by people who claim to love books but refuse to pay for them. Authors have a right NOT to go e-book. If you really like a book, you can buy it, or borrow it from a library (thus keeping libraries alive). If you can't be bothered to do either, perhaps you should stop claiming that you like books.