birth_date: 1890-08-24 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.64
name: Jean Rhys
about: Known West Indian-born British writer Jean Rhys, originally Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams based Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a novel, on the character of the first Mistress Rochester in Jane Eyre of Charlotte Brontë.This Caribbean woman published her first four during the 1920s and 1930s, but emerged as a significant literary figure in the mid 20th century. This "prequel" won a prestigious William Henry Smith literary award in 1967. A Scottish mother bore her to a Welsh father. She moved to England at the age of 16 years in 1906 and worked unsuccessfully as a chorus girl. In the 1920s, she relocated to Europe, travelled as a Bohemian artist, and took up residence sporadically in Paris. During this period, Rhys, familiar with modern art Known West Indian-born British writer Jean Rhys, originally Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams based Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a novel, on the character of the first Mistress Rochester in Jane Eyre of Charlotte Brontë.This Caribbean woman published her first four during the 1920s and 1930s, but emerged as a significant literary figure in the mid 20th century. This "prequel" won a prestigious William Henry Smith literary award in 1967. A Scottish mother bore her to a Welsh father. She moved to England at the age of 16 years in 1906 and worked unsuccessfully as a chorus girl. In the 1920s, she relocated to Europe, travelled as a Bohemian artist, and took up residence sporadically in Paris. During this period, Rhys, familiar with modern art and literature, lived near poverty and acquired the alcoholism that persisted throughout the rest of her life. Her experience of a patriarchal society and displacement during this period formed some of the most important themes in her work. ...more
death_date: 1979-05-14 00:00:00