This book was an amazing read! Offering a new perspective on Bertha’s maligned character in Jane Eyre, Rhys’s novel challenges Bronte’s imperialist othering of Bertha and renders Rochester a colonial villain (rightfully so) rather than an esteemed byronic hero. Rhys’s writing is extremely beautiful and eloquent, 10/10 recommend!📚✨

¿Hay que leer Jane Eyre? Sí, claro y después hay que correr a leer este libro. Es la respuesta de Rhys, fanática de la novela gótica, quien superpone la voz silenciada del relato. El lado americano de la historia inglesa. Te sentís hechizado, abandonado, encandilado, perdido, asustado. La narración es tan hermosa, tan oscura y secreta a la vez. Es como una mezcla entre "lo que el viento se llevó" "Beloved" "the awakening" y "the yellow wallpaper" , que es lo mismo que decir que es espectacular. Dos personajes que se encuentran solo para lastimarse, para terminar de sellar el destino herido del otro. Una historia sobre violencias, traumas, imposibilidad de pertenecer donde no nos quieren. Secretos, vergüenzas y una belleza absoluta enredados entre personajes difíciles, que no se conocen, que buscan espejos que los reflejen. All tangled in a sargasso sea♥️

maybe 3.5*?

It is always tricky writing a transformative work as an established and published author (rather than informally, for your own enjoyment only) but it comes so naturally to Jean Rhys than one cannot help and read with awe.

The novel, of course, heavily relies on being familiar with Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". However, it still manages to stand on its own, with Rhys's prose and style bringing to life a narration that draws on the author's own living experience. It addresses all the issues that Rhys has (and I feel a lot of modern readers cannot help but to have) picked upon and has felt warrant response - the way Antoinette / Bertha (an by extension - sex) is treated by Bronte's narrative, negative stereotypes of Creole people, the little addressed matter of British colonialism in the Carribean - and does so beautifully.

I understand why the novel as drawn a polarised response. It is on the more stylistic literary fiction side which may not always connect with readers. But I still found it draw a complex portrait of a woman and a marriage falling apart in a way that still reads contemporary and relevant.

Powerful, truthful and honest also I hate him so much

I read this years ago, more because I was interested in Jean Rhys' Caribbean background than because I loved the book. This time, the book grabbed me and didn't let me go. The writing is much better than I remembered, and the Caribbean setting is so well drawn. The book is regarded as a feminist response to Jane Eyre, so at some point I'll have to read it as well. Rhys makes clear how tenuous a woman's existence was in the patriarchal society; even more so in the far-flung corners of empire like Jamaica and Dominica. I read a version I found on line that was a pdf of a side-by-side translation into Spanish with notes on the text which were actually quite helpful.

I loved this and I feel like this is the kind of book I love even more upon rereading it

If you’ve read Jane Eyre, read this.

Absolutely loved the narration of Bertha or to say 'Antoinette's story Jean Rhys brings justice to Bertha's point of view for those who read Jane Eyre and felt pity or in favour of Bertha. The shift of pov's in the book gives a broader perspectives to the reader. It is a fast paced book with enthralling descriptions of nature and islands. One of the sensitive topic discussed by Jean is racial relationship during the Emancipation Act and after it After having read Jane Eyre years ago, I feel so much full of emotions for Bertha Mason. It's like the story of Jane Eyre is complete for me now! It's a must read.

Ugh. I can’t say I liked this book, at all. I disliked the narrator. I hated the way her mother treated her. I felt some sympathy for the mother, and wanted to hear her story, instead. I hated how bleak the setting was, atmospherically oppressive even while being beautiful. I liked the mysterious black figures in the book, but hated Antoinette’s descent into m̶a̶d̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ mental illness (was she, though? Mentally ill?) I don’t know. I’m hard to please, and this didn’t please me. Maybe I needed to first read it when I was younger. Maybe I need to have a suitably analytical background (in literary terms). I just didn’t like it.

So many parts of this book were incredibly and cleverly crafted. It’s an intelligent commentary on and response to Jane Eyre, giving a voice to a character that was cast aside and used as a simple plot device in the original novel.

I’m not sure to what degree I could believe that these are the exact same characters we meet in Jane Eyre; I would need a reread to really fit the two narratives together. However, I loved the themes explored in this book anyway, in particular those of nature v. nurture, gender roles, race, power, and above all, “madness.”

Despite the brilliant writing, I didn’t always enjoy reading it. It’s an incredibly sad and haunting story, and at times I struggled to push through it.

Overall, I certainly think it’s worth the read.

i had to go back after a while to change my original rating from 4 to 5 stars. i can't stop thinking about this beautifully written book and antoinette. jean rhys is so talented and put so much into such a little number of pages. i could talk about wide sargasso sea for hours, about antoinette's fragmented identity, her and rochester's displacement and their dynamic as a married couple, the presence of nature as if it were another character of the book, 'madness' and circularity, the impossibility to escape from fate. this might be one of my favourite classics.

This is such a great adaptation and expansion of Jane eyre, the parallels between the two protagonists are striking and really set an undertone of the dominating structure of the patriarchy

as if i didn't despise rochester enough, this book further solidifies the disdain for sure.

I had issues with this book. I realise it is considered a classic. But I had issues with it's structure, with the thinness of the characterisations...I don't know, I need to give it some more thought...

Interesting premise because I love Jane Eyre, but this book really angered me and made me feel like marriage is a curse and insanity is the only escape.🤣 01-22-22: Coming back while rereading Jane Eyre, I loathe this book. I appreciate it, but I'm so frustrated with this book looking back.

The only reason I read this book was because I love Jane Eyre so much. Well, this was a huge disappointment and I had to struggle to finish it.

This novel is a postcolonial, feminist response to the classic gothic novel Jane Eyre. Here we get the perspective and the life story of the character at the center of the secret hidden in Thornfield. Before, she was just a plot device. Now she tells her own experience growing up in the West Indies after the British slaveholders and colonizers were overthrown. It is traumatic and tragic. Rochester is not a romantic hero in any sense of the word. He is given a POV in this book and it shows the depth of his selfishness, cruelty, greed, and racism. The atmosphere painted by the prose in this short book is rich and vivid. The emotions are sharp, cutting quick and deep. I read this side by side with Jane Eyre and that was a great experience. I enjoyed both books even more. I fully believe this could stand on its own, but I am sure it is a richer experience having the background of the Bronte novel it is referencing.

An unexpected eerie little delight of a book that attempts to answer the question of just who is Bertha Antoinetta Mason. The book takes place in Jamaica and presents us with a possible explanation for the madness of Rochester’s (from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre) mysterious wife that he keeps imprisoned in Thornfield. There is a distinct atmosphere created in this book engaging all the senses: the strong, almost nauseating scent of the night-blooming moon flowers, the sight of the heap of chicken feathers in the corner of Christophine’s house, the wooziness of the islanders as they sipped (or chugged) their white rum, and the feeling of total despair as Antoinetta discovers her mother’s horse lying dead under the frangipani tree. Of course I must now find time to re-read Jane Eyre while this possible prequel is fresh in my memory. (which god only knows is a very short period of time)

I enjoyed the new point of views regarding Antoinette but it wasn't a favorite in terms of enjoyment

So beautifully-written, I wished I read it earlier !

“you can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone.” wish we could’ve gotten more from antoinette’s pov rather than mr rochester. I already disliked him from jane eyre and being inside his mind wasn’t a pleasant experience. I am glad to see some justice done to the story of the madwoman in the attic, she never came across as a villain to me while reading jane eyre and it was nice that she had some redemption in this one.

I loved the idea: Mr. Rochester's mad woman in the attic gets a past. Fascinating. And when I step back and look at the work as a whole, I really liked it. However, I had a really hard time getting through her writing. I felt like I was reading a bad translation.