#ReadingRhys – a round-up and a few closing thoughts

Well, what a busy week it’s been for #ReadingRhys! When I canvassed interest in the concept of a Jean Rhys Reading Week earlier this year, I had no idea that it would gather quite so much momentum in such a short space of time. It’s been truly wonderful to see the level of interest in reading Rhys’ work both amongst new readers and those already familiar with her unique style.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Eric at Lonesome Reader for being such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable co-host for the week – his insights into Jean Rhys and her work have been truly enlightening. Thanks also to Poppy at poppy peacock pens and Margaret at New Edition for taking a lead in reviewing and contributing to the discussions on a few of Rhys’ books as part of the week. Do visit their blogs if you haven’t done so already as they’re definitely worth a look. Thanks to Andy Miller (author of The Year of Reading Dangerously and co-host of the Backlisted podcast) for kindly speaking to me about Rhys – I couldn’t have wished for a more enthusiastic advocate of her work. Finally, and most importantly, a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who has participated in the Reading Week, either by posting a review, sharing thoughts via Twitter, contributing to the discussions on blogs, GoodReads or social media, or simply by reading one of her books – the level of engagement has been terrific. Just for a bit of fun, I’ve collated together a selection of tweets from the week, mainly pictures, quotes and responses from various readers – you can view them here via Storify.

By way of a wrap-up, here’s a list of all the new reviews/articles posted as part of the JR Reading Week – if I’ve missed any posts, do let me know in the comments and I’ll add a link. Plenty to explore here, so do take a look if you’re interested. (I haven’t collated links to the various archive reviews as I fear this would take me until Christmas!)

The Left Bank and Other Stories – 1927

• Jacqui – JacquiWine’s Journal

Quartet (originally published as Postures) – 1928

• Abby – Abby King
• Ali – HeavenAli
• Lisa – ANZ LitLovers LitBlog
• Poppy – poppy peacock pens

After Leaving Mr Mackenzie – 1930

• Grant – 1streading’s blog
• Jacqui – JacquiWine’s Journal
• Karen – Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
• Kate – Kate Macdonald
• Madame bibi – Madame bibi lophile recommends
• Mary – via GoodReads
• Melwyck – The Indextrious Reader

Voyage in the Dark – 1934

• Belinda – Biisbooks
• Claire – Word by Word
• Eric – Lonesome Reader
• Grant – 1streading’s blog
• Joe – roughghosts
• Max – Pechorin’s Journal
• Simon – Stuck in a Book

Good Morning, Midnight – 1939

• Abby – Abby King
• Ali – HeavenAli
• David – David’s Book World (post one) 
• David – David’s Book World (post two)
• Eric – Lonesome Reader (includes an interview with Jessica Harrison, Senior Commissioning Editor for Penguin Classics)
• Karen – Karen Corday
• Laura – Reading in Bed
• Madame bibi – Madame bibi lophile recommends
• Margaret – New Edition
• Melissa – The Bookbinder’s Daughter

Wide Sargasso Sea – 1966

• Anna – ink stains on a reader’s blog
• Cathy – 746 Books
• Eric – Lonesome Reader
• Heather – Worth Getting in Bed For
• Lady Fancifull 
• Louise – Lone Star on a Lark
• Nargis Walker – guest post at poppy peacock pens (covering WSS and Jane Eyre)

Tigers Are Better-Looking – 1968 

• Jacqui – JacquiWine’s Journal
• Ms Arachne – A Canon of One’s Own

Sleep It Off, Lady – 1976

• Jonathan – Intermittencies of the Mind
• madame bibi lophile – madame bibi lophile recommends
• Marina – findingtimetowrite

Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography – 1979

• Belinda – biisbooks
• Eric – Lonesome Reader
• Marina – findingtimetowrite

Jean Rhys: Letters 1931-66 – 1984

• Eva Stalker – via Twitter and Storify
• Poppy – poppy peacock pens

Other posts

• Author Andy Miller discusses his passion for the work of Jean Rhys, part 1 – Jacqui, JacquiWine’s Journal
• Author Andy Miller discusses his passion for the work of Jean Rhys, part 2 – Jacqui, JacquiWine’s Journal
• Teaching Rhys – Dorian, Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau
• The Honesty of Jean Rhys – Kristen, Weird Sister
• The Romantic life of the writer Jean Rhys? – Caroline, book word
• Interview with Shelley Day – Poppy, poppy peacock pens

A number of things struck me during the week, especially in relation to After Leaving Mr Mackenzie and the short stories, my main areas of focus for the event. Firstly, Rhys’ wonderful use of imagery as a way of creating mood and emotion. Several people commented on this during the week, and it was interesting to see the following passage cropping up more than once in reviews of Mr Mackenzie:

But really she hated the picture. It shared, with the colour of the plush sofa, a certain depressing quality. The picture and the sofa were linked in her mind. The picture was the more alarming in its perversion and the sofa the more dismal. The picture stood for the idea, the spirit, and the sofa stood for the act.

Secondly, there is Rhys’ ability to create and convey character. Much has been said about Julia Martin, a figure who elicited mixed opinions among the various readers of this book. While some people saw her as vulnerable women with limited options in life, others viewed her as rather feckless and self-centred – a woman with a strong sense of entitlement for want of a better phrase. To me she seems like a woman deserving of our understanding and compassion, another of Rhys’ women trapped by circumstances and the cruelty of life. I particularly liked Grant’s comments on Julia. Here’s a brief passage from his review.

Julia leads a precarious existence from man to man. Rhys brilliantly exposes her inner anxieties via outer discomforts – tiredness, cold. More than once she is described as a ghost. (Grant on After Leaving Mr Mackenzie)

While it is natural to view Rhys’ fiction as bleak and melancholy, a number of people picked up on the undercurrent of wry humour in her work, not just in the novels, but in the stories too. Staying with Rhys’ short fiction, other readers highlighted some of the parallels between these pieces and certain elements of the writer’s own life. In some ways, her stories read like little vignettes, dealing as they do with the marginalisation of women and the perpetual fragility of lives lived on the edge. As Marina put it, where Rhys succeeds so brilliantly is in her ability to take a certain experience from her own world and heighten it, “polishing it until it catches the light of universality.” Maybe that’s one of the reasons why her work remains so relevant today; the emotions are timeless. All the elements of Rhys’ fiction are here in miniature: the feeling of being the perpetual outsider; the fear of poverty and the constant scrabble for money; the importance of clothes in these women’s lives; the near constant dependence on men. There are many more.

Finally, I couldn’t finish without mentioning a few of the descriptions of Rhys’ work which stayed with me throughout the week. A couple of people quite rightly described Rhys as a poet, someone who gave a voice to the sole woman, the lonely outsider whose very existence hangs by a thread. All three succeeded in capturing something of the essence of this unique writer.

Jean Rhys’ writing represents the poetry of the downtrodden and vanquished, who nevertheless display an obstinate pride from time to time and an occasional wild streak, like the black cat in the story ‘Kikimora’. (Marina on Smile Please & Sleep It Off, Lady)

Rhys is the poet of hypocrisy and unspoken disapproval. (Max on Voyage in the Dark)

Here is the world of the dispossessed, the powerless, the damaged and those who damage. (Ali on Good Morning Midnight)

Eric, Poppy and Margaret have also posted few closing thoughts on Rhys’ other works as part of their wrap-ups for the week, so please do take a look at their blogs. (Note: Poppy’s summary to follow.)

All that remains is for us to reveal the winner of our prize for making a significant contribution to the week. We’re delighted to announce that the winner is Dorian of the Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau blog for his brilliant post on Teaching Rhys. Congratulations Dorian – a special bundle of Rhys’ books will be on its way to you shortly. Many thanks to Penguin for their generosity and support of the reading week – it is very much appreciated.