Wensend

You can read the whole review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.I adored this book. This book is inspired by Brönte’s Jane Eyre, which I haven’t read. I’m planning to read it in the future, but apart from having read a few reviews online, I’m therefore not able to make a comparison between the two books. What did I love about the book? Especially Antoinette Cosway, the main character. In Jane Eyre she is called Martha Mason. Jean Rhys wants to turn things around in this book: whereas in Jane Eyre Antoinette is described as ‘the mad woman in the attic’, WSS explains why she became that way. Living as a creole, a white person between all the black people in the Caribean, Antoinette isn’t certain about her own identity. She is mocked by the local people and doesn’t belong there, though she also doesn’t belong with the white people. But it gets worse: Antoinette marries a man who takes her identity away. He gives her another name and makes her feel like she’s crazy. All of this together makes her lose her mind, but it’s not unrealistic: this can happen to anyone in that position.