July Book of the Month: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Switching between narrative voices and alive with the ghosts of the recent past, Wide Sargasso Sea is a rich and deeply empathetic exploration of the life of a character Rhys felt had been misrepresented and misunderstood in the original. Such characters recur throughout Rhys' fiction and many readers have drawn parallels between this story and the feelings of displacement and alienation which haunted the author throughout her troubled life. Born in Dominica in 1894, Rhys came to England aged 16, working as an actress, showgirl and occasional prostitute before moving to bohemian Paris in the late '20s and beginning her writing career. Her early novels, often portraying women as underdogs out to exploit their sexualities, were ahead of their time and only modestly successful. From 1939 onwards she lived reclusively, persistently falling into alcoholism, and was largely forgotten when she made a sensational comeback with Wide Sargasso Sea in 1966 which finally won her the acclaim and recognition her writing surely deserves. She died in 1979.

Now it's time to see what you think. Good, bad or indifferent- give it a read and let me know...