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A review by felicityebhaslin
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.7 stars rounded up
Confession time: I’ve never actually read Jane Eyre. I don’t even know what happens. It’s just one of those books that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to read but every time I want to pick it up, I find myself committed to another book first - that one laid on my bedside table with a bookmark half-way through, an assigned reading due this week, or I’m just in the mood for something short and snappy. So, putting my shame of being a pathetic excuse for an English Lit student aside, I’m in the position to contribute living, breathing evidence to the discourse around this book. You DON’T need to have read JE to understand, enjoy and relish this book.
Goodreads reviews for Jean Rhys’s ‘literary sensation’ seem to either be 4-5 stars or 1 star, little in-between. The 1-star-reviews say that without reading JE, they wouldn’t have understood it. Well, here I sit; looks like it’s back to the drawing board. Entitled as they may be to their opinions, their reasoning feels like a cop-out for saying they just didn’t like the book.
I acknowledge the themes of this novel can be COMPLEX. Our main character, Antoinette (later known as Bertha Mason), has a family tree so chaotic I still don’t fully understand it by the end. I wouldn’t blame anyone for struggling to get their head around some of the things in this book, and for that I have to knock off the 0.3 stars. However, everything else this book brings to the table makes up for my minutes of head-scratching.
Themes (apparently suppressed in JE) of race, isolation and hatred weave a disturbing, pitiful tale. What caused her insanity? It’s not as simple as genetics. Does anyone deserve our pity? Or should we feel sorry for them all?
Will definitely reread (hopefully having read JE this time
Confession time: I’ve never actually read Jane Eyre. I don’t even know what happens. It’s just one of those books that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to read but every time I want to pick it up, I find myself committed to another book first - that one laid on my bedside table with a bookmark half-way through, an assigned reading due this week, or I’m just in the mood for something short and snappy. So, putting my shame of being a pathetic excuse for an English Lit student aside, I’m in the position to contribute living, breathing evidence to the discourse around this book. You DON’T need to have read JE to understand, enjoy and relish this book.
Goodreads reviews for Jean Rhys’s ‘literary sensation’ seem to either be 4-5 stars or 1 star, little in-between. The 1-star-reviews say that without reading JE, they wouldn’t have understood it. Well, here I sit; looks like it’s back to the drawing board. Entitled as they may be to their opinions, their reasoning feels like a cop-out for saying they just didn’t like the book.
I acknowledge the themes of this novel can be COMPLEX. Our main character, Antoinette (later known as Bertha Mason), has a family tree so chaotic I still don’t fully understand it by the end. I wouldn’t blame anyone for struggling to get their head around some of the things in this book, and for that I have to knock off the 0.3 stars. However, everything else this book brings to the table makes up for my minutes of head-scratching.
Themes (apparently suppressed in JE) of race, isolation and hatred weave a disturbing, pitiful tale. What caused her insanity? It’s not as simple as genetics. Does anyone deserve our pity? Or should we feel sorry for them all?
Will definitely reread (hopefully having read JE this time
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Child death, Mental illness, Slavery, and Toxic relationship