Letters by Jean Rhys
In her will, Jean Rhys expressed a wish that no biography of her should be written unless authorized during her lifetime. Following her death, her literary executor was approached frequently with requests for permission to write "an official life". Finally he decided that, by compiling a volume of letters, authentic biographical information would be provided. But as the collection grew, the biographical aspect took on a secondary importance as the self-portrait began to reveal the turbulent process of literary creation. The final result is a portrait spanning the years 1931 (taking up the story roughly where it was left in "Smile Please") to 1966, when the long struggle to finish "Wide Sargasso Sea" was over.
Jean Rhys was born in Dominica in 1894. Coming to England aged 16, she drifted into various jobs before starting to write in the late 1920's. Her novels, often portraying women as underdogs out to exploit their sexualities, were ahead of their timeand only modestly successful. Partly autobiographical, VOYAGE IN THE DARK was first published in 1934. From 1939 she lived reclusively, and was largely forgotten when she made a sensational comeback with 'Wide Sargasso Sea' in 1966. She died in 1979.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780140189063 |
| ISBN 10 | 0140189068 |
| Title | Letters |
| Author | Jean Rhys |
| Series | Penguin Twentieth Century Classics S |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Year published | 1995-05-25 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |