Wide Sargasso Sea
By Jean Rhys ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 7.5/10 ""I know who is talking what they say. That man not a bad man, even if he loves money, but he hears so many stories he don’t know what to believe. That is why he keep away.”..."
By Jean Rhys
★★★★★★★½☆☆ 7.5/10
172 pages
What’s it about?
Jean Rhys imagines how the madwoman in the attic who appears in Jane Eyre comes to be.
What did it make me think about?
Well, some of the Burlingame family decided to read Jane Eyre as a family book club pick. Because we are a thorough bunch, we decided to take on Wide Sargasso Sea as a companion book before we discuss Jane Eyre (thank you, Jack). My overriding thought while reading both books is that there can be many versions of the truth.
Should I read it?
I am not sure what I thought of this book. The writing is lush and descriptive. Jean Rhys sets a scene and a place as well as any. But the book is vague- as if she is painting a picture obscured by a mist. The story is told from two different perspectives, each shedding a different light on “the truth.” I’m not sure Jean Rhys actually made the madwoman in Jane Eyre (or Mr. Rochester) any more knowable. I finished certain that Antoinette had been driven to madness, but uncertain that Mr. Rochester was the main problem- although he was definitely a problem. This was not my favorite book- but I am glad to have read it.
A passage I marked
"I know who is talking what they say. That man not a bad man, even if he loves money, but he hears so many stories he don’t know what to believe. That is why he keep away.”
