In her will, Jean Rhys expressed a wish that no biography of her should be written unless authorized during her lifetime. Following her death, her literary executor was approached frequently with requests for permission to write "an official life". Finally he decided that, by compiling a volume of letters, authentic biographical information would be provided. But as the collection grew, the biographical aspect took on a secondary importance as the self-portrait began to reveal the turbulent process of literary creation. The final result is a portrait spanning the years 1931 (taking up the story roughly where it was left in "Smile Please") to 1966, when the long struggle to finish "Wide Sargasso Sea" was over.
- ISBN10 0233975675
- ISBN13 9780233975672
- Publish Date 14 May 1984
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 17 October 2003
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint HarperCollins Distribution Services
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 336
- Language English