Wide Sargasso Sea

, a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys-s return to the literary center stage. She had a startling early career and was known for her extraordinary prose and haunting women characters. With , her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction-s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic f , a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys-s return to the literary center stage.

She had a startling early career and was known for her extraordinary prose and haunting women characters. With , her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction-s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte BrontÃ-s . This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr.

Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind. A new introduction by the award-winning Edwidge Danticat, author most recently of , expresses the enduring importance of this work.

Drawing on her own Caribbean background, she illuminates the setting-s impact on Rhys and her astonishing work.