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The Left Bank, and Other Stories
Rayon : Roman Editeur : Gallimard Date de parution : 1987 Description : In-12, 198 pages, broché, occasion, couverture défraîchie. Envois quotidiens du mardi au samedi. Les commandes sont adressées sous enveloppes bulles. Photos supplémentaires de l'ouvrage sur simple demande. Réponses aux questions dans les 12h00. Librairie Le Piano-Livre. Merci. Référence catalogue 35119. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1970
1 person is currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Jean Rhys
70 books1,536 followersJean Rhys, CBE (born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890–14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for her education. She is best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), written as a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
She moved to England at the age of 16 years in 1906 and worked unsuccessfully as a chorus girl. In the 1920s, she relocated to Europe, travelled as a Bohemian artist, and took up residence sporadically in Paris. During this period, Rhys, familiar with modern art and literature, lived near poverty and acquired the alcoholism that persisted throughout the rest of her life. Her experience of a patriarchal society and displacement during this period formed some of the most important themes in her work.
She moved to England at the age of 16 years in 1906 and worked unsuccessfully as a chorus girl. In the 1920s, she relocated to Europe, travelled as a Bohemian artist, and took up residence sporadically in Paris. During this period, Rhys, familiar with modern art and literature, lived near poverty and acquired the alcoholism that persisted throughout the rest of her life. Her experience of a patriarchal society and displacement during this period formed some of the most important themes in her work.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 11, 2025
A must for all Jean Rhys aficionados. This was her first ever published writing, which came about by chance and desperation. Those who read her posthumously published unfinished autobiography Smile Please will know that the story behind these Left Bank stories is a great one:
In 1924 Ella Lenglet nee Williams (later Jean Rhys) was alone, destitute and starving in a run down Paris hotel room. Her husband of five years, French-Dutch journalist and songwriter (and spy) Jean Lenglet, was in a French jail for what she described as 'currency irregularities'.
After visiting him one day, she took articles he had written to a newspaper contact to try and sell, so she could eat. The newspaper contact sent her on to someone else who asked her to go away and translate them, which, being multilingual, she successfully did. That contact finally declined her husband's translated articles but liked her translation style and so, as a final thought, asked her whether she, Ella, had ever penned anything herself.
Perplexed but desperate, she showed the person some samples of her diary, which included a few rough sketches of life in the Paris she inhabited.
So impressive were these that the rapidly thinning Ella was sent on to another contact, eventually coming face to face with English writer and publisher Ford Maddox Ford.
He was instantly impressed and took her under his wing, mentoring her and inviting her to move in with him and his common-law wife, Australian artist Stella Bowen. Under Ford's tutelage her stories were developed into The Left Bank, and Other Stories and published in his Transatlantic Review.
It was with this release of her first published fiction that Ford persuaded her to use nom de plume Jean Rhys.
Ford published a generous introductory foreword, praising her 'singular instinct for form,' for which she became so loved by her readers many decades on. 'Coming from the West Indies,' Ford explained here, 'with a terrifying insight and ... passion for stating the case of the underdog, she has let her pen loose on the Left Banks of the Old World.'
Such was the advent of Jean Rhys' unlikely writing career.
It was also during this period, while living with Ford & Stella, that Jean's turbulent affair with Ford took place under Stella's nose, resulting the break up of Jean's marriage to her jailed husband - all to be later fictionalised into what would become the first Jean Rhys novel, Quartet (1928). But that cathartic act of vengeance is another story.
So, these Stories From The Left Bank have quite a tale of their own.
These preliminary short stories that made young Ella Williams history and launched newly invented Jean Rhys are filled with her personal hallmarks: her vivid characterisations, her evocative, filmic scenes, her succinct, incisive take on life through the eyes of the downtrodden, of the outsider looking in.
Breathtaking. Not to be passed over by any of her readers.
(NB A selection of these are also included in Jean's Tigers Are Better Looking anthology).
In 1924 Ella Lenglet nee Williams (later Jean Rhys) was alone, destitute and starving in a run down Paris hotel room. Her husband of five years, French-Dutch journalist and songwriter (and spy) Jean Lenglet, was in a French jail for what she described as 'currency irregularities'.
After visiting him one day, she took articles he had written to a newspaper contact to try and sell, so she could eat. The newspaper contact sent her on to someone else who asked her to go away and translate them, which, being multilingual, she successfully did. That contact finally declined her husband's translated articles but liked her translation style and so, as a final thought, asked her whether she, Ella, had ever penned anything herself.
Perplexed but desperate, she showed the person some samples of her diary, which included a few rough sketches of life in the Paris she inhabited.
So impressive were these that the rapidly thinning Ella was sent on to another contact, eventually coming face to face with English writer and publisher Ford Maddox Ford.
He was instantly impressed and took her under his wing, mentoring her and inviting her to move in with him and his common-law wife, Australian artist Stella Bowen. Under Ford's tutelage her stories were developed into The Left Bank, and Other Stories and published in his Transatlantic Review.
It was with this release of her first published fiction that Ford persuaded her to use nom de plume Jean Rhys.
Ford published a generous introductory foreword, praising her 'singular instinct for form,' for which she became so loved by her readers many decades on. 'Coming from the West Indies,' Ford explained here, 'with a terrifying insight and ... passion for stating the case of the underdog, she has let her pen loose on the Left Banks of the Old World.'
Such was the advent of Jean Rhys' unlikely writing career.
It was also during this period, while living with Ford & Stella, that Jean's turbulent affair with Ford took place under Stella's nose, resulting the break up of Jean's marriage to her jailed husband - all to be later fictionalised into what would become the first Jean Rhys novel, Quartet (1928). But that cathartic act of vengeance is another story.
So, these Stories From The Left Bank have quite a tale of their own.
These preliminary short stories that made young Ella Williams history and launched newly invented Jean Rhys are filled with her personal hallmarks: her vivid characterisations, her evocative, filmic scenes, her succinct, incisive take on life through the eyes of the downtrodden, of the outsider looking in.
Breathtaking. Not to be passed over by any of her readers.
(NB A selection of these are also included in Jean's Tigers Are Better Looking anthology).
December 26, 2023
Four stars might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I do think this early collection of short texts from Jean Rhys is better than a mere OK or good three-star volume. At any rat,e it certainly bodes well as Rhys would take these humble beginnings ever onward and her writing would only get better and better as she went on.
So, legendarily, these texts were worked up under the auspices of Ford Madox Ford and followed hard on the disaster of Rhys's first husband's incarceration and one in a series of her desperate stints without money or prospects spent trying to survive in a world she found hostile and phony. Most of the attitudes, tones, and some of the linguistic prowess that would mark her later and best work is at least hinted at here, although the sketches and character portraits don't really become full-fledged stories until late in the collection. The last four or so stories only live up to the appellation story and are quite fine, particularly the last, the autobiographical tale of her husband's financial misdeeds and their consequences.
All-in-all the collection's not quite up to the quality of Rhys's work in general, but it's still quite good and, pleasantly, gets better and better as the texts evolve right before your eyes. Also, for me, this is a welcome addition to the Rhys canon and a wonderful glimpse into the genesis of her amazing expression of the fragility of the social set-up that has us all on the pins and needles of survival on a daily basis--at least those of us without the stuff and stuffing to plow our way through with narcissistic bravado.
So, legendarily, these texts were worked up under the auspices of Ford Madox Ford and followed hard on the disaster of Rhys's first husband's incarceration and one in a series of her desperate stints without money or prospects spent trying to survive in a world she found hostile and phony. Most of the attitudes, tones, and some of the linguistic prowess that would mark her later and best work is at least hinted at here, although the sketches and character portraits don't really become full-fledged stories until late in the collection. The last four or so stories only live up to the appellation story and are quite fine, particularly the last, the autobiographical tale of her husband's financial misdeeds and their consequences.
All-in-all the collection's not quite up to the quality of Rhys's work in general, but it's still quite good and, pleasantly, gets better and better as the texts evolve right before your eyes. Also, for me, this is a welcome addition to the Rhys canon and a wonderful glimpse into the genesis of her amazing expression of the fragility of the social set-up that has us all on the pins and needles of survival on a daily basis--at least those of us without the stuff and stuffing to plow our way through with narcissistic bravado.
March 2, 2021
I'm so happy I started reading Jean Rhys' work. This is her first published short stories. Now that I'm more familiar with her style it's really cool to see how her voice developed over time.
This collection has her signature melancholy world view & speaks to her own personal life. I'm going to read all her work, I love her.
This collection has her signature melancholy world view & speaks to her own personal life. I'm going to read all her work, I love her.
March 25, 2025
The stories in Rhys’ book started out a bit slowly but as I grew accustomed to her voice, they became increasingly brilliant. Her works illustrate a fascinating period in history and give readers a feminine perspective, which is sorely lacking in the works of her male contemporaries. At times, the writing reminded me of Edith Wharton. I look forward to reading more from Rhys.
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January 30, 2025fun vignettes of montparnasse in the 20s, and the few longer short stories at the end that start to shine and show where she was headed in her career. doesn’t need a rating, but definitely enjoyable
September 29, 2016
I wrote about this book here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016...
Here's a brief extract:
I’m going to focus on the nine ‘Left Bank’ sketches which appear in editions of Tigers – these pieces form the second section of the book.
In Illusion, one of my favourite stories in this section, the narrator tells us about her friend, Miss Bruce, a portrait painter from Britain who has been living in Paris for the past seven years. To all intents and purposes, Miss Bruce appears untouched by the beauty and indulgences of life in the French capital. Eschewing anything frivolous in favour of a sensible tweed suit and brown shoes, her one concession to Paris is a touch of powder on her nose.
One day, a more surprising side of this lady’s character emerges. When Miss Bruce falls ill and is taken to hospital, her friend thinks she might need some things from her room, a couple of nightgowns and a comb or a brush. But when she opens Miss Bruce’s wardrobe, the narrator is astonished to find an array of beautiful dresses, gowns of every colour, ‘a riot of soft silks’. This discovery reveals a quest both for the perfect dress and for the transformation it might help to furnish. In essence, the contents of this wardrobe represent the search for an illusion.
Then must have begun the search for the dress, the perfect Dress, beautiful, beautifying, possible to be worn. And lastly, the search for illusion – a craving, almost a vice, the stolen waters and the bread eaten in secret of Miss Bruce’s life. (p. 143)
Mannequin features a typical Rhys protagonist. It focuses on Anna – a fragile, delicate girl, her hair ‘flamingly and honestly red’ – who goes for an interview as a mannequin in a Paris salon. Having gained the approval of the vendeuse, Anna is engaged to model the ‘jeune fille’ dresses. Her salary is a pittance, but as a beginner she can scarcely expect anything more. At first, everything seems strange and alien to Anna; the atmosphere is efficient if somewhat hectic.
In the mannequins’ dressing-room she spent a shy hour making up her face – in an extraordinary and distinctive atmosphere of slimness and beauty; white arms and faces vivid with rouge; raucous voices and the smell of cosmetics; silken lingerie. Coldly critical glances were bestowed upon Anna’s reflection in the glass. None of them looked at her directly…A depressing room, taken by itself, bare and cold, a very inadequate conservatory for these human flowers. (p. 150)
To read the rest of my review, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016...
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016...
Here's a brief extract:
I’m going to focus on the nine ‘Left Bank’ sketches which appear in editions of Tigers – these pieces form the second section of the book.
In Illusion, one of my favourite stories in this section, the narrator tells us about her friend, Miss Bruce, a portrait painter from Britain who has been living in Paris for the past seven years. To all intents and purposes, Miss Bruce appears untouched by the beauty and indulgences of life in the French capital. Eschewing anything frivolous in favour of a sensible tweed suit and brown shoes, her one concession to Paris is a touch of powder on her nose.
One day, a more surprising side of this lady’s character emerges. When Miss Bruce falls ill and is taken to hospital, her friend thinks she might need some things from her room, a couple of nightgowns and a comb or a brush. But when she opens Miss Bruce’s wardrobe, the narrator is astonished to find an array of beautiful dresses, gowns of every colour, ‘a riot of soft silks’. This discovery reveals a quest both for the perfect dress and for the transformation it might help to furnish. In essence, the contents of this wardrobe represent the search for an illusion.
Then must have begun the search for the dress, the perfect Dress, beautiful, beautifying, possible to be worn. And lastly, the search for illusion – a craving, almost a vice, the stolen waters and the bread eaten in secret of Miss Bruce’s life. (p. 143)
Mannequin features a typical Rhys protagonist. It focuses on Anna – a fragile, delicate girl, her hair ‘flamingly and honestly red’ – who goes for an interview as a mannequin in a Paris salon. Having gained the approval of the vendeuse, Anna is engaged to model the ‘jeune fille’ dresses. Her salary is a pittance, but as a beginner she can scarcely expect anything more. At first, everything seems strange and alien to Anna; the atmosphere is efficient if somewhat hectic.
In the mannequins’ dressing-room she spent a shy hour making up her face – in an extraordinary and distinctive atmosphere of slimness and beauty; white arms and faces vivid with rouge; raucous voices and the smell of cosmetics; silken lingerie. Coldly critical glances were bestowed upon Anna’s reflection in the glass. None of them looked at her directly…A depressing room, taken by itself, bare and cold, a very inadequate conservatory for these human flowers. (p. 150)
To read the rest of my review, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews