Thank you to Andrew Darbourne for the following review.
A smaller than usual number of Bookworms met in June to discuss ‘Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The author was born in 1890, the daughter of a Welsh doctor and Creole mother in Dominica in the Windward Islands and died in Exeter, UK, in 1979. At 16, she went to London working as an actress before moving to Paris. She was encouraged to write by Ford Madox Ford and earned acclaim for her early works set in the bohemian world of Europe in the 20s and 30s. She then stopped writing for nearly three decades and after moving to Cornwall produced the remarkably successful novel ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’.
‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ can be regarded as a prequel to Jane Eyre, reconstructing the early life of Antoinette Cosway, who was Mr Rochester’s mad first wife. He was paid to marry her when visiting the beautiful Caribbean island where she lived. Rhys gives voice to the untold experiences of the Creoles, claiming they are misunderstood and maligned by the black islanders and wealthy white Europeans.
Throughout the book we learn that in all accounts of events, there is always ‘another side to the story’. The author tells the life of Antoinette through different voices, giving the recounting greater balance. In part 1, Antoinette leads us through her early years, highlighting her lonely, solitary existence, unloved by her mother. We are made to visualise the Caribbean after the Abolition of Slavery Act of 1833. Many of the white estate owners became financially destitute and were hated and despised by the Black islanders, being termed by the parasitic phrase ‘white cockroach’. Their once beautiful estates are falling into disrepair and Antoinette’s mother, Annette, understands the hopelessness of the situation, but no-one, including Mr Mason, her husband, refuses to believe her. Antoinette watches and listens and in her own young way understands the situation. She has to endure bullying, disrespect and general hatred, but is loved by her nurse Christophine, who acts more like a mother. The patriarchal society that existed during these times gave little opportunity for women to have any independence, particularly financial.
There are many minor characters in the book, often with tangled relationships and chequered existences. We see the false friendship of Tia to young Antoinette, the poisoning of her horse, the burning down of their home and the tragic death of Pierre, Antoinette’s brother.
Part 2 starts with Antoinette’s own marriage to, as we now know, Mr Rochester (never actually named in this book). Here, the story is related by him, but empathy continues for Antoinette even throughout her descent into madness, despite Christophine’s ministrations and the failure of Rochester to believe his wife’s side of the story. Part 3 gives the connection to Jane Eyre.
The Sargasso Sea, a strange body of water in the North Atlantic, associated with shipwrecks, symbolises the problematic identities of the island’s inhabitants and the emotional trauma between the cold, disbelieving Rochester and Antoinette. Here, we read about a very sad family saga, set over two generations with lies, truths, confusion and much tragedy. A weakness of the book is that it is short on plot relying on dangerous atmospheres and doomed relationships. The group was split on this book, some loving it and others finding the switch of narrative confusing. Not everyone felt empathy for the characters – a real Marmite of a book!
Louise Elsome
Bookworms Group Coordinator