Wide Sargasso Sea is a novel by Jean Rhys, published in 1966. It is a postcolonial retelling of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, Jane Eyre, and tells the story of Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress living in Jamaica during the mid-19th century.
The novel begins with Antoinette's childhood in Jamaica, and follows her as she is sent to live in England with her husband, Mr. Rochester, the protagonist of Jane Eyre. As Antoinette struggles to adapt to her new life in England, she becomes increasingly isolated and unhappy, and is eventually confined to an asylum.
Throughout the novel, Rhys explores themes of identity, race, colonialism, and the effects of cultural and historical forces on individual lives. Wide Sargasso Sea is notable for its use of multiple narrators, shifting points of view, and its incorporation of various elements of Caribbean folklore and culture.
Wide Sargasso Sea has been widely praised for its evocative writing, its complex and compelling characters, and its exploration of important and timely themes. It is considered an important work of postcolonial literature and has been widely studied and admired by readers and critics alike.