Read this when
Wide Sargasso Sea
The 'madwoman in the attic' had a name before he changed it. Wide Sargasso Sea is her side of the story. 🔥
Who it's for
Rhys gives Jane Eyre's locked-away 'Bertha' a childhood, a voice and a history, which can powerfully validate readers who have been reduced to a villain or 'the crazy one' in someone else's story.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Jean Rhys's 1966 novel is a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre that reimagines Bertha Mason, the 'madwoman in the attic', as Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress. The first part follows Antoinette's childhood on a declining Jamaican plantation after the abolition of slavery, where her family has fallen into poverty and their estate is burned.
Where to find it
In print (Penguin Modern Classics, Norton Critical Edition) and in libraries (Libby/Hoopla); audiobook available. Not public domain. Jane Eyre (1847), its companion, is public domain and free on Proje.
Before you start
Heads up: Implied sexual abuse; a child's death.
Age: Ages 16+
Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question:W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
