Written many years after Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, but based on the slightly crazed lady in the attic, this book was on my must-read list. I love Jane Eyre and the way it is written, the stories that are told and at the time I wondered more about the lady in the attic.
In Jean Rhys' book, I had the chance to find out more, establish why she was there and the background to her behaviour. It is a sad and painful story, one of lies and truth, and much confusion. And though the story was easy enough to follow and to understand what was going on, the writing seemed to become muddled - just like Antoinette's mind.
But I was looking for the crucial link: I was expecting the name of the manor, his servants in it and crucially her new husband's name. There was no clear link though, making it a book where if you hadn't read Jane Eyre you would be very confused and lacking any visuals.
It shows the hatred that was around at the time for slaves, slave owners, blacks and whites - but misses that real passion and understanding of the time, because it was written much later. Some of it seemed a little unrealistic, like the way bullies would act in the school playground for the most part - and the serious stuff seemed a little forced and calm to be how such a situation would play out.
In all honesty, this book has left me a little baffled with many questions continuing to go around my head. In fact, I feel like now I need to find a book telling me about her mother's history and how she ended up alone having to marry a man that made her mad.
Is this book saying that love leaves us all crazy and desperate, where we only find out the things we are told? It makes it seem that not telling somebody something is a lie and that we are wrong for doing it. But at the same time, the characters finding things out is what makes them crazy, because they know the truth and know too much. If I could ask the author, I think I would need to know which idea she is trying to plant in the readers mind.
Overall, I'm glad I got it from the charity shop, quite let down and I feel that the story could have been more in depth and done the lady in the attic that Charlotte Bronte created a bit more justice, than what is presented in this short book.
I don't think I'd read it again, but if you have questions about the lady in the attic, give it a read; you may find it different to me and it may resolve all your queries - but for me it didn't hit the mark.
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