Wide Sargasso Sea

8/10

Short and sweet. A layered and well-crafted novel, rich in meaning and symbolism.

On some level, any comments that I have on this text are meaningless. The topics and ideas that it deals with so beautifully, many of them historic and relating to race and colonialism, are large and far beyond my knowledge or comprehension. Nevertheless, the world of the story is populated by vivid characters in conflict with one another and this cultural and relational clash provides an access point to readers such as me. I really appreciated how the relationship between young Antoinette and Mr Mason changes, where she becomes grateful to him and begins to like him. I also found the tension between the ‘natives’, caused by proximity of some to the ‘colonialists’, to be fascinating. The book surprised me. After starting with Antoinette as the narrator from childhood, I was a little stunned when it switched to the unnamed ‘Rochester’ character as a second narrator. Cycling between the perspectives of both presented a fascinating glimpse into the minds of each and enhanced the relatability of their perspectives. Rochester and Antoinette have the honeymoon from hell, fuelled by mutual suspicion and misunderstanding. Much of the ‘marriage falling apart’ material was very resonant with me which made the completion of this scintillating novel quite emotionally demanding. “’Christophine, he does not love me, I think he hates me. He always sleeps in his dressing-room now and the servants know. If I get angry he is scornful and silent, sometimes he does not speak to me for hours and I cannot endure it any more, I cannot.’” Towards the end, Antoinette is locked away in a house somewhere in England. She talks about setting fire to the building and climbing to the roof. I had a hearty chuckle when it was revealed that this was a ‘and then I woke up and it was all a dream’ moment. Despite being an accomplished and highly regarded author, were Jean Rhys alive today, I would caution her on getting any feedback on her work from secondary school teachers in Ireland.