After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie

 

I love Wide Sargasso Sea so I've been reading Jean Rhys' earlier books lately.  If it wasn't for that book she would no doubt be a forgotten author. Her earlier books aren't as amazing as Wide Sargasso Sea but they do show potential and the genius that was to become. In this book, nothing much happens. An aging woman leaves a man who she admits wasn't that bad to her. She bums off family and past lovers. I get the feeling that this book was semi-autobiographical. Reading this I kept hoping that the character would get herself on her own two feet but she is a very dependent woman. I have no doubt this book describes the position of a lot of women around the time this was written and probably even now.