Wide Sargasso Sea at 50

A new critical study about Wide Sargasso Sea has just been published:

Wide Sargasso Sea at 50
Editors: Savory, Elaine, Johnson, Erica L. (Eds.)

Palgrave MacMillan

ISBN 978-3-030-28222-6

This book revisits Jean Rhys’s ground-breaking 1966 novel to explore its cultural and artistic influence in the areas of not only literature and literary criticism, but fashion design, visual art, and the theatre as well. Building on symposia that were held in London and New York in 2016 in honour of the novel’s half-century, this collection demonstrates just how timely Rhys’s insights into colonial history, sexual relations, and aesthetics continue to be.  The chapters include an extensive interview with novelist Caryl Phillips, who in 2018 published a novel about Rhys’s life, an account of how Wide Sargasso Sea can be read through the lens of the #MeToo Movement, a clothing line inspired by the novel, and new critical directions. As both a celebration and scholarly evaluation, the collection shows how enduring Rhys’s novel is in its continuing literary influence and social commentary. 

The table of contents is the following:

Introduction to Wide Sargasso Sea at 50 ... Savory, Elaine (et al.)

Interview with Caryl Phillips ... Savory, Elaine

Interview with Chrisila Maida ... Savory, Elaine

Infamous Daughters: A Capsule Collection Inspired by Wide Sargasso Sea ... Roccanova, Alexa

Wide Sargasso Sea Then and Now: Reading Jean Rhys à la mode ... Oliver, Sophie

After Mrs Rochester: On Portraying Jean Rhys Onstage ... Quick, Diana

Interview with James Thackara ... Savory, Elaine

Who Writes for the Trees?: Wide Sargasso Sea, the Dominican Forest, and Its Parrots ... Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth

Jean Rhys Getting the “Feel” of the West Indies in Wide Sargasso Sea ... Thomas, Sue

“Broken Parts”: Wide Sargasso Sea and the Poetics of Caribbean Modernism ... Emery, Mary Lou

#Metoo in Wide Sargasso Sea ... Mardorossian, Carine

The Lineaments of Life and Death: Desire, Sexuality and Manhood in Wide Sargasso Sea ... Savory, Elaine

Vulnerability and Authenticity: The Wisdom of Wide Sargasso Sea ... Cook, Katy

“I so wanted to hand Emma a copy of Wide Sargasso Sea”: Wide Sargasso Sea and Contemporary Re-workings of Jane Eyre ... Mirmohamadi, Kylie

Encryption as Transmission: The Secret Gardens of Wide Sargasso Sea ... Moran, Patricia (et al.)

Burning Down Her Master’s House (Again): Marlon James Responds to Jean Rhys ... Spyra, Ania