Wide Sargasso Sea

Format:	Paperback 160 pages

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Synopsis

Set against the lush backdrop of 1830s Jamaica, Jean Rhys's powerful, haunting story was inspired by the first Mrs. Rochester, in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". Born into an oppressive, colonialist society, Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway meets a young Englishman who is drawn to her innocent sensuality and beauty. But soon after their marriage, rumors of madness in her family poison his mind against her. He forces Antoinette to conform to his rigid Victorian ideals, unaware that he is pushing her towards madness, and towards a terrible conclusion amongst the leaping flames at Thornfield Hall...

Book details

Published
03/09/1998

Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd

ISBN
9780140274219

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UK Kirkus review

Rhys was haunted by the figure of the first Mrs Rochester, the mad wife in the attic. Antoinette Cosway is a Creole heiress, whose family traps the young Rochester into marrying her. Soon after the marriage, the rumours of insanity and inbreeding in her family turn him against her. Alone in the house on the Yorkshire moors, she succumbs to madness and is imprisoned in the attic, while downstairs, Jane Eyre is trying to steal her husband. Review by Pat Barker, Booker Prize-winning author of the 'Regeneration Trilogy' (Kirkus UK)