Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys was a Caribbean-born British writer of the mid-20th century. Her most famous work is the novel Wide Sargasso Sea, published in 1966. It was inspired by Mrs Rochester's character in Jane Eyre, and was written as a prequel.

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• Lifetime: 24 August 1890 • 14 May 1979
• Main genre: Contemporary fiction (at the time of publication)
• Literary movement: Modernism and postmodernism
• Mid-2026 popularity ranking:  91 • Trending ▼

"We can't all be happy, we can't all be rich, we can't all be lucky - and it would be so much less fun if we were... There must be the dark background to show up the bright colours."