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Last edited by Doro Wynant
March 18, 2023 | History
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Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys, born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams in 1890, was a 20th-century novelist and writer of short stories. Born and raised on the Caribbean island of Dominica, she moved to England at age 16, became a chorus girl, and embarked on the life of a demimondaine there and in Europe. Her deep sense of being an outsider -- the descendant of white colonialists in the Caribbean, then a Creole in England -- never left her and deeply informed her work.

Rhys's evocative sketches in the 1920s caught the eye, and briefly earned the patronage, of Ford Madox Ford (her fraught relationship with him is explored in her debut novel, Quartet [1928]). She is best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), which examined the character of Bertha Rochester (in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre) from a different angle.

Photo of Jean Rhys

Born 24 August 1890
Died 14 May 1979

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  • Cover of: Wide Sargasso Sea

    Cover of edition widesargassosea0000rhys_l7l7 Cover of edition widesargassoseam0000jean Cover of edition widesargassosea0000rhys_q8x3 Cover of edition widesargassosea00rhys_3 Cover of edition widesargassosea00rhys Cover of edition widesargassosea00jean Cover of edition widesargassosea0000unse Cover of edition widesargassosea00rhys_579 Cover of edition widesargassosea0000rhys First published in 1966 — 48 editions
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  • Cover of: Quatuor

    Cover of edition quartet0000rhys_s3k5 Cover of edition quartet00rhys Cover of edition quartet0000rhys Cover of edition quartet00jean Cover of edition quartetrhys00rhys Cover of edition quartetnortonpap00jean First published in 1928 — 26 editions
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  • Cover of: The left bank & other stories.

    First published in 1927 — 7 editions
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  • Cover of: Tigers are better-looking: with a selection from The Left Bank: stories.

    Cover of edition tigersarebetterl00rhys First published in 1968 — 7 editions
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  • Cover of: Tigers are better-looking

    First published in 1968 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: Prelude to Poetry

    First published in 1971 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: La Grosse Fifi

    First published in 2011 — 1 edition
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Photo of Jean Rhys

Born 24 August 1890
Died 14 May 1979

Subjects

Fiction, British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author), English literature, Fiction, general, Large type books, Social life and customs, 823/.912, Britanniques, British, Caribbean area, fiction, Continental european fiction (fictional works by one author), Creoles, England, fiction, English Short stories, English poetry, Fiction in English, Fiction, psychological, Fiction, romance, historical, Fiction, romance, historical, general, Fiction, short stories (single author), Historical fiction, History and criticism, Imprisonment, London (england), fiction, Man-woman relationships

Places

Paris (France), British West Indies, Caribbean Area, Coulibri, Dominica, England, France, Granbois, Jamaica, London (England), Thornfield Hall, West Indies

People

Antoinette, Christophine, Daniel, Mr. Mason, Pierre

Time

19th century

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Alternative names

  • Jean Rhys
  • Rui Si (Rhys, Jean, 1894-1979)
  • Rhys Jean
  • Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams

History

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March 18, 2023 Edited by Doro Wynant The wikipedia bio is too short and somewhat inaccurate. Wide Sargasso Sea was not written as a "prequel" to Jane Eyre; rather, Rhys identified with Bertha -- as a Creole and as an exploited woman -- and chose to write Bertha's story. I've studied Rhys's work for 30 yrs, and I know these biographical details very well.
September 27, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot add ISNI
February 27, 2020 Edited by Tom Morris Add AKA
February 12, 2020 Edited by Lisa merge authors
August 31, 2008 Created by ImportBot Imported from Talis record