WIDE SARGASSO SEA is written as a response and prequel to JANE EYRE, providing a possible backstory for Mr. Rochester’s first wife. Known as Bertha in JANE EYRE, here, Antoinette is a white Creole woman who finds herself trapped in both a marriage and in a history she cannot escape.

At just barely 200 pages, this dreamlike novel covers so much ground - a complex family history based in painful racial politics, a marriage where both parties are confused by the other, and most of all, loneliness. Antoinette’s sense of being adrift in the world and belonging nowhere drives this book and her eventual breakdown. She feels stuck between cultures, estranged from her relatives, and married to a man who does not understand her at all.

I loved how Rhys mirrored Jane’s life in Antoinette’s. Two similar stories, yet Rochester’s reactions to them take the women down drastically different paths.

I do wish it was a bit longer - I wanted more toward the end when the story overlapped with the events of JANE EYRE. I also found it interesting that a large portion of the middle of the book is from Rochester’s point of view. I am not sure how much that added to the story. I did realize upon reading this that I have virtually no understanding of racial politics or the history of slavery in the Caribbean and I would like to read more about that. If you’ve got any recommendations, please let me know.