Cover of Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys, 1966

Dominican novelist, 1890–1979.

Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 novel by Jean Rhys.

All-Time Canon
  • Critics' Darling
  • Stood the Test of Time

On 7 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Jean Rhys
First published
1966
Length
192 pages (UK paperback)
Genre
Literary fiction, Empire and colonialism, Gothic, Feminist

Is Wide Sargasso Sea worth reading?

7 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian) and 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library).

ListPlaceOriginal
100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998)No. 94See the list
100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009)No. 79See the list
100 novels that shaped our world (BBC Arts, 2019)ListedSee the list
All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005)ListedSee the list
The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026)No. 50See the list
The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture, 2015)No. 53See the list
The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency, 2022)ListedSee the list

Best edition of Wide Sargasso Sea

The edition we link to is the Penguin Classics paperback (2000), 192 pages.

Publisher
Penguin Classics (paperback, 2000)
Pages
192
ISBN
9780141182858

How critics and readers rate Wide Sargasso Sea

Critics rate it most highly: it earned 52% of the points available on critics' lists, against 13% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
52%
Prizes
Not eligible for any of these lists yet
Readers and booksellers
13%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like Wide Sargasso Sea

If you liked Wide Sargasso Sea, try The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22 or Wolf Hall.

Lists used on this page