Caryl Phillips presents a biographical novel of Jean Rhys, the author of Wide Sargasso Sea, which was written as the prequel to Jane Eyre. Born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams in Dominica, Jean Rhys lived in the Caribbean for only 16 years before going to England. Her dream had always been to return home. In 1936, a 45-year-old Rhys was finally able to make the journey back to the Caribbean. Six weeks later she boarded a ship for England, filled with hostility for her home, never to return.