by Jean Rhys
First published 1997
Antoinette Cosway arrives in London broke and abandoned, her wealthy husband vanished. With no resources and minimal connections, she faces brutal economic precarity in a city that offers no mercy to fallen women. Her survival depends on navigating a treacherous social landscape where reputation is currency and isolation is deadly. An opportunistic acquaintance offers a dangerous compromise: a complicated arrangement that might save her, or destroy what remains of her dignity. Rhys renders a razor-sharp portrait of a woman pushed to her absolute limits.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fallen-woman, fish-out-of-water, survival
Setting: London, West Indies
Period: 1930s
192 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: abuse