A review by lameeya_
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A book that I have been wanting to read for close to fifteen years can hardly live up to the expectations but I did really enjoy this perspective. I recently re-read Jane Eyre with the sole intention of reading this book. The character of the madwoman in the attic, Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's first wife is woefully treated in the original work as just an obstacle for the Jane and Mr. Rochester to marry but this book expanded not only her backstory but made very interesting points about the colonial subject and agency. Antoinette, who was deprived of power and agency and love in her life becomes the victim of Mr. Rochester's colonial gaze where he is all too willing to believe her mad because she is strange to him. The writing is weirdly disjointed and I can't figure out if it's meant to represent the decline in Antoinette as we go through her life or just an artistic choice. Ultimately I'm glad I read this book even though I have nothing new to add to it's review. I would give this 4 stars but for the writing which did not flow very well for me, especially off the back of reading Jane Eyre which was written much earlier and so much easier to read.