Jean Rhys
British Creole novelist, author of Wide Sargasso Sea.
Jean Rhys was born Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams on 24 August 1890 and died 14 May 1979. She was a British Creole novelist, raised on the Caribbean island of Dominica. At sixteen, she left for England, where she was sent to be educated, and spent most of the rest of her life there. Her most famous work is *Wide Sargasso Sea* (1966), a prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s *Jane Eyre*.
Rhys began writing around 1914, on and off. In 1923 she met Ford Madox Ford, who became both a literary mentor and a lover. With his help, her first book, *The Left Bank: Sketches and Studies of Present-Day Bohemian Paris* (often shortened to *The Left Bank*), came out in 1927. She then published four short, semi-autobiographical novels about women navigating difficult lives in London and Paris: *Quartet* (1928), *After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie* (1931), *Voyage in the Dark* (1934), and *Good Morning, Midnight* (1939). None brought her much money or acclaim, and she felt her writing career had stalled. She largely withdrew from public life.
After *Wide Sargasso Sea* revived her reputation, much of her earlier work was reprinted. Two more short story collections followed, and an unfinished autobiography appeared after her death. In 1978, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her writing, just before she died the next year.
**Early life**
Her father, William Rees Williams, was a Welsh ship’s doctor who arrived in Dominica at twenty-seven. In 1882, a year after settling, he married Minna Lockhart, a third-generation white Dominican Creole of Scottish descent. (At the time, “Creole” meant anyone born on the island, regardless of race.) Rhys’s maternal grandmother, born Jean Maxwell, may have had Spanish ancestry. Her mother’s family had once owned a large sugarcane plantation. Her great-grandfather, James Potter Lockhart, bought a 1,200-acre estate in 1824 that included 258 slaves. Rhys had mixed-race cousins descended from James Lockhart’s children with enslaved women. Though slavery ended in 1834, her grandfather Edward Lockhart brutally put down a rebellion by exploited black laborers in 1844.
Minna Williams had six children, five of whom survived to adulthood. The eldest were Edward and Owen. Next came Minna, named after her mother. Rhys was the fourth child, called Gwen by her family, born a year later. A fifth child, Brenda Gwenith, died as an infant.
- Born
- 24 August 1890, Dominica
- Died
- 14 May 1979
- Field
- Novelist, short story writer
- Nationality
- British Creole
- Known for
- Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
Lore & Background
Rhys started writing intermittently around 1914 and found a literary mentor in Ford Madox Ford in 1923, with whom she also had an affair. With his assistance, her first work of fiction, *The Left Bank: Sketches and Studies of Present-Day Bohemian Paris* (often shortened to *The Left Bank*), was published in 1927. This was followed by four short semi-autobiographical novels about women navigating perilous circumstances across London and Paris: *Quartet* (1928), *After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie* (1931), *Voyage in the Dark* (1934), and *Good Morning, Midnight* (1939). After these publications failed to lead to significant financial or critical success, Rhys felt her writing career had stalled and largely withdrew from public life.
Rhys's father, William Rees Williams, was a Welsh ship's medical doctor who arrived in Dominica at age 27. Her mother, Minna Williams née Lockhart, was a third-generation white Dominican Creole of Scots ancestry. Rhys's daughter Maryvonne Moerman was a child during World War II and did not join the Dutch Resistance, contrary to some unsubstantiated claims.
Reader's Guide
Following the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea in 1966, Rhys experienced a resurgence in popularity, and much of her earlier work was republished. Two further volumes of short stories followed, and her incomplete autobiography was published posthumously. In 1978, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her writing, just before her death in 1979. Her work is noted for its focus on women in precarious circumstances, often drawing on her own experiences as a colonial exile in Europe. The visit to Dominica in 1936 exerted a powerful influence on Wide Sargasso Sea, which reimagines the story of Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre. Rhys's legacy rests on her ability to give voice to marginalized characters and to explore themes of identity, displacement, and the lingering effects of colonialism.
Did You Know?
- Rhys was born Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams and changed her name to Jean Rhys on the suggestion of Ford Madox Ford.
- Her great-grandfather James Potter Lockhart purchased a 1,200-acre estate that included 258 slaves.
- Rhys served as a volunteer worker in a soldiers' canteen during the First World War.
- Her daughter Maryvonne joined the Dutch Resistance and married a fellow fighter against fascism.
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