Welcome to Litsy!

I forgot to post it last night, but I opened my #LittleChristmasSwap from @iread2much and I am absolutely delighted! And the card made me laugh out loud! 😆

I shared the candies around my family and they were thoroughly appreciated! ❤️

My review of 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys is up on the John C Adams Reviews website now!

https://www.johncadamsreviews.com/single-post/john-c-adams-reviews-wide-sargasso...

#WideSargassoSea #JeanRhys #AntoinetteMason #AntoinetteCosway #JaneEyre #CharlotteBronte #Dominica #Caribbean #JohnCAdams #MondayMusings #Book #literature #Fiction #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews

Beautiful language, and the story I really wanted to know about from Jane Eyre.

I‘m reading this book all like “I knew it. I fucking knew it! That motherfucker!”

Now I‘m gonna hear this shit from the perspective of the bitch in the attic!

This balancing of the scales was long overdue and raises the question: why not sooner?

My review of 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys is up on the John C Adams Reviews website now!

https://www.johncadamsreviews.com/single-post/john-c-adams-reviews-wide-sargasso...

#WideSargassoSea #JeanRhys #AntoinetteMason #JaneEyre #CharlotteBronte #Dominica #Caribbean #JohnCAdams #MondayMusings #literature #Fiction #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews

Occasionally a book comes along that changes the course of literature for the better, even when that happens far too late.

https://www.johncadamsreviews.com/single-post/john-c-adams-reviews-wide-sargasso...

#WideSargassoSea #JeanRhys #AntoinetteMason #AntoinetteCosway #JaneEyre #CharlotteBronte #Dominica #Caribbean #JohnCAdams #MondayMusings #Book #literature #Fiction #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews

“Only the magic and the dream are true — all the rest's a lie.”

Remembering Jean Rhys on her birthday.

As a Jane Eyre fan I‘ve been hesitant to pick this up, but glad I finally read it. This origin story of Mr. Rochester‘s first wife elevates her from “madwoman” to “woman driven to madness”—an important distinction. Unaccepted by her home country, her family, and finally her husband, Antoinette Cosway‘s only loyal companion is excruciating alienation. So heart wrenching!🔸#julyreads2021

This is the background to “Bertha” the wife of Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre. I love and have re-read Jane Eyre several times. The story around Antoinette Cosway has always intrigued me. This feels like a gothic tale…it‘s sad..I don‘t want to ruin it if you haven‘t read Jane Eyre..is there such a reader out there😂😂
Next for me is a book that‘s been on the bedside pile for a while The Family Doctor.
Happy reading everyone 😘😘

One of my favorites! Prequel to Jane Eyre but you don‘t need to read Jane Eyre to understand.

My #bookspin book for #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I was supposed to have read this years ago when I was working on my masters‘s degree in Comparative Lit. Unfortunately, there was not enough time in any day to both read all the books I was assigned and write all the papers, and I had to skip a couple. This was one of those, and it has been glaring at me from a shelf ever since. 😅 ⬇️

Thankyou so much @Birdsong28 for this book ... it has opened doors in my mind ... Rhys‘ writing is a gift. Her obsession/ fascination with Antionette Cosway , inspired by Jane Eyre... I never knew that was the subject of this book. From hauntingly beautiful Jamaica to the attic in Thornfield Hall .. lots of red , passion , madness. It will be awhile before this settles in my mind. Brilliant.

#BuddyRead

It was a beautiful place - wild, untouched, above all untouched, with an alien, disturbing, secret loveliness. And it kept its secret. I‘d find myself thinking, ‘ What I see is nothing - I want what it hides - that is not nothing. ‘

One morning soon after we arrived, the row of tall trees outside my window was covered with small pale flowers too fragile to resist the wind. They fell in a day, and looked like snow on the rough grass- snow with a faint sweet smell. Then they were blown away.

This book ❤️. The writing is brilliant .. this book is deeply disturbing in a good way.. bearing the weight of history .. the back story of Rochesters wife in Jane Eyre

Good. Loved seeing how two of the characters of a much loved book Jane Eyre started out. It does add to the story as you can see how Mr Rochester and his first wife got to the situation they do in the classic book and shows why he did what he did.

Looking forward to seeing your opinions on this @Cathythoughts #buddyread

Such lovely weather to start my #buddyread with @Cathythoughts and it might actually make me believe I am in Jamaica with the sun shining so bright. 🌅🏝️

Thanks so much Victoria for this lovely gift ! I love this notebook 💕 and I would like nothing more than to buddy read this book with you. You‘re very good. Let‘s set a date later .. when would suit you ? @Birdsong28 ThanksXXX Cathy.

This #TBR stack is entirely the fault of literary hub‘s “50 books under 200 pages” list.
Thanks.

#sarcasm #womenshistorymonth #blackhistorymonth #nativeamericanliterature #mountTBR

#faveshortbook #ShowSomeLove @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Can someone tell me where I can find an audiobook for Wide Sargasso Sea ? I don't have libby, because I have no library card (I'm from Egypt, and the choices are limited for me on there anyway)

#ShowSomeLove Day 28: For this year, this will probably make my #FaveShortBook, thus far.

1. Visiting my uncle.
2. No, I wish I had a dog.
3. That's a tough one... I think I would take the Harry Potter series if I can take the whole series, but if not I'd take any Colleen Hoover novel.

#motivationalmonday @Cupcake12

I thought I‘d find this more interesting having loved Jane Eyre so much but I really disliked this book unfortunately 😰

Heart breaking love story - failure of communication and cultural respect. Certain descriptions are challenging to read

I read this straight after reading Jane Eyre, and wonder now if I would have enjoyed it more if I‘d left it for some time. I am not a fan of Rochester, he gives me the creeps, but I don‘t think Rhys‘ interpretation aligned with mine. I still don‘t understand why she decided to call the first Mrs R “Antoinette”. For a relatively short novel, it packs a lot in, but it wouldn‘t work as a standalone, some knowledge of Jane Eyre is needed.

In Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys brings to life a woman best known to readers as the mad woman in the attic from Jane Eyre, and gives the reader a glimpse into the life of Mr. Rochester before Jane enters his life. A nice companion to Brontë‘s classic, but it isn‘t necessary to read Jane Eyre to enjoy this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It‘s Friday, and the start of a long weekend 🥳. I‘ve been reading a lot of long books lately, so I‘m going to mix in a few shorter ones this weekend to ensure I get at least something read in full. I‘ve been meaning to read this book for ages! 🤞🏻 I like it.

After reading “Jane Eyre” last year, I knew I needed to read Rhys‘ account of the backstory of Antionette Cosway (avoiding spoilers...see the hidden comment for more details). “Wide Sargasso Sea” is a fantastic book in its own right. Rhys managed so much complexity in so few pages.

They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. #firstlinefridays

A prequel to Jane Eyre; this is the Other Mrs Rochester‘s back story and I absolutely loved it!! The writing is amazing, it really reminded me of Zora Neale Hurston. I got lost in this book which is exactly what I needed! (It‘s a subtle prequel and can defo be enjoyed as a stand-alone! 👍)

I recently read Jane Eyre for the first time and although it stole my heart, my brain is a little bit more critical. I definitely had some issues with it, so it's really important to me to read through Jean Rhys's "response." I'm very interested in seeing what she addresses and how.

So haunting. I love Rhys‘s work, but I wasn‘t quite prepared for this one. It doesn‘t help that I‘m the person who reads Jane Eyre and roots for Jane to the point of wanting Bertha in the attic to disappear. This book explores the overlooked question: why does Rochester have a woman in the attic, and what did he do to make her lose her mind? Antoinette‘s story parallels Jane‘s, but ends on a decidedly more tragic note.

Having recently finished Jane Eyre I thought this would be good to start. Also Rhys is the only author in my modernist ideal bookshelf print I haven't read yet, so I thought it's about time (a picture of that another time).

At the end of the year, my book club chooses all the reads for the next year. Everyone submits suggestions & then we vote. These are my suggestions. I picked one new, one classic, one nonfiction. I‘m hoping these will help push the ladies very gently out of their comfort zone. We‘ll see what actually gets picked.

Took these from the Book Sorting just because of the covers; I already had different editions of three of them. 😂
Honestly, I'm incorrigible.

Read it years ago but this BBC radio version was my latest cardio-workout partner.
Antoinette is the daughter of former slave owners in the Caribbean. She has no sense of belonging anywhere, nor of basic safety. Then along comes Mr Rochester (yes, him!) to marry her for her money. It's something of a conundrum, the book comes across as fragmented and disorienting as Antoinette's mental state inevitably becomes. I'm just not sure how deliberately.

Jean Rhys is a #caribbean queen, having been born and raised on Dominica. I read this ‘prequel‘ to Jane Eyre recently; I don‘t think I could say I particularly enjoyed it, it was a bit odd.

#wanderingjune

#CaribbeanQueen #WanderingJune

I guess as far as evoking a mood, this book was strong - nearly the entire story, the atmosphere felt suffocating, or like a drunken stupor. If that‘s what descent into madness is like, then that was effective. But in my opinion, the portrayal of Rochester was inaccurate, and most of the book I spent thinking, wait, what just happened? Why did that happen? Where did that come from? I understood very very little of any of the characters at the end.

How annoyed am I right now?! 😠

I‘m working on an interim basis and had a conversation yesterday about the main office door which is apparently *never* locked at any time.

Couldn‘t sleep last night (The worry squirrels were out in force!) so came in early to get some work done and guess what?!

Can‘t get in and I‘ve no idea what time the first person with a key will arrive...

I suppose the book‘s quite good...! (In a Pret having brekkie!)

I came down with a gnarly cold this weekend and toughed it out yesterday for work, but had to give in to it today. Not complaining too much because I‘m finally watching Jane Eyre from the comfort of my couch, with a cat sleeping on my feet. Also looking forward to starting this book after the movie, all about Mr. Rochester‘s wife. I‘m so in love with the cover. 😍

Very mixed feelings on this one. This book was in three parts the first and third were so strong and the second I found myself bored (and that was the longest section by far). Writing was good but I guess I just did not care about the elusive Bertha as much as I thought I would.

Don‘t know how I never heard of this. Going to rectify this right now.

1/5⭐ If there are any meaningful feminist themes like I expected given the praise for this book, they're completely buried in the muddled writing style. #projectnew

Awesome