Jean Rhys: Life and Work [Hardcover]

Carole Angier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1991

'An acute literary intelligence ... the reader comes to trust instinctively Angier's assessments.' New York Times Jean Rhys (1890-1979) had a long life of great difficulty. So inept was she in its management that her authority as the writer of five beautifully shaped and controlled novels appears mysterious: how could someone so bad at living be so good at writing about it? Carole Angier answers this question. Jean Rhys never denied that she used her own experience in her writings, but no one hitherto has understood so well the nature of, and reasons for, this use. On her way to understanding, Carole Angier discovered more about the life than seemed possible. Jean Rhys's childhood, her momentous first love affair, her three marriages, the disasters which befell her husbands, her drinking and its consequences: all are shown with unsparing clarity. Equally clearly, and more importantly, we see the dynamics of her personality as it underwent, and sometimes provoked, these experiences. Sometimes what is revealed is shocking; but Carole Angier's sympathy and compassion dispel dismay, and her brilliant demonstrations of how art was made of events and emotions restores admiration on foundations which are stronger than ever. Jean Rhys did not want anyone to write about her, but this first full biography put beyond question her standing as a great writer of our time, written with an intensity and clarity which mirrors her own. It is a work of exceptional intimacy, sensitivity and power. 'Remarkable, the definitive biography. It is deeply researched, subtle, sympathetic.' Claire Tomalin Independent on Sunday 'Mesmerising.' Washington Post

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1973 critic Al Alvarez called her the best living English novelist, and in the same year PW reported a "rush" on her novels, among them Quartet, Voyage in the Dark and her masterpiece, Wide Sargasso Sea. Rhys (1890-1979) was an odd bundle of qualities that included narcissism, paranoia, charm, self-pity, self-destructiveness, rage against men and a general wildness of temperament that owed something to the steamy island of Dominica where she was born. But as British freelance writer Angier amply shows in this hefty critical biography--where fact and insight lie cheek by jowl--she was adept at "distilling truth out of evasion and art out of pain." For her (and her heroines), loving meant losing, a lesson acquired through several marriages and passionate affairs, the most formative, from the literary point of view, with Ford Madox Ford. Perhaps this impressive study will trigger another rush on a poetic novelist now suffering a mild neglect. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Rhys (1890-1979), author of several novels and short stories, drew on her life experience as a colonial exile from the British West Indies who became a chorus girl, bohemian, and writer living by her wits in London and Paris. Angier (who previously published a much shorter biography, Jean Rhys , Viking, 1986) painstakingly links Rhys's difficult life to events and characters in her fiction. Angier's exhaustive study is exacting, though not without speculation. She pays special attention to Rhys's autobiographical tendencies, especially in light of her heroines and their alienation. This intimate yet scholarly work is much more than simple biography, providing a detailed and well-documented analysis of the writings. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
- Janice Braun, Medical Historical Lib., Yale Univ.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 762 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown; First edition (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316042633
• ISBN-13: 978-0316042635
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,761,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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