Having just finished watching Jane Eyre on the Beeb, I wasn't sure how I would take to Wide Sagasso Sea. Antoinette (or Bertha) is pitied and feared and only seen once after the 'non' wedding in Jane Eyre. This relatively short story gives us an idea of a possible life for Rochester and his first wife in Jamaica where they married, and suggests to us reasons for how she ended up where she did in Jane Eyre. But it is hard to equate the Rochester in Jane Eyre and this younger version, and some fans of the book may not be able to take the cruel attitude shown by Edward to his wife. However, it is not that dissimilar to some of the characteristics seen in the original Bronte novel. The acting was superb and the idea of the 'prequal' well conceived by the original author.
Review of Wide Sargasso Sea
