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adam_mcphee 's review for:
I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys
by Miranda Seymour
Really interesting book about a really interesting life.
Agree with other criticisms here that it's not clear how the author decides what of Rhys' writing reflects her own life, but the author is to be commended for doing so much with so little and for conducting so much new research into Rhys' life. What really stands out to me is how big and influential a support network Rhys had, which is almost a paradox given that her best writing is about poverty and loneliness, although of course she had more than her fair share of both.
The first half is mostly about her island upbringing and her love affairs with the sons of the governor of the bank of england and Lenglet and Ford Madox Ford, which are more interesting than her later life, where she's taken care of but also in a sense held captive by influential women in England's publishing industry. Would've liked to see more on her interactions with the Lost Generation writers, but it seems like she didn't leave her biographers much to work with.
Well worth a read if you're interested in Jean Rhys.
I've only read her contemporary novels, but this convinced me it's time to check out her short stories and also Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.
Agree with other criticisms here that it's not clear how the author decides what of Rhys' writing reflects her own life, but the author is to be commended for doing so much with so little and for conducting so much new research into Rhys' life. What really stands out to me is how big and influential a support network Rhys had, which is almost a paradox given that her best writing is about poverty and loneliness, although of course she had more than her fair share of both.
The first half is mostly about her island upbringing and her love affairs with the sons of the governor of the bank of england and Lenglet and Ford Madox Ford, which are more interesting than her later life, where she's taken care of but also in a sense held captive by influential women in England's publishing industry. Would've liked to see more on her interactions with the Lost Generation writers, but it seems like she didn't leave her biographers much to work with.
Well worth a read if you're interested in Jean Rhys.
I've only read her contemporary novels, but this convinced me it's time to check out her short stories and also Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.