Lucasta Miller

Disregarded for decades, Jean Rhys stayed true to her vision of life

Always uncompromising in her portrayal of gloom and squalor, she finally triumphed in her seventies with the masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys, photographed in 1974. She was cruelly mocked in later life for her eccentricities. [Bridgeman Images]
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  • I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys

    Miranda Seymour

    William Collins, pp. 448, £25

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