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Sleep It Off, Lady: stories
A collection of 16 short stories by the author of "Wide Sargasso Sea", "Voyage in the Dark" and "Good Morning, Midnight".
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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1677 people want to read
About the author
Jean Rhys
67 books1,472 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 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 20, 2020
Not long ago I read 'Tigers Are Better Looking' which was a collection of short stories I really liked, and the first time I'd read Rhys' short fiction. Sleep it off lady I found to be even better, and I now realise Rhys was just as much an accomplished short story writer as she was a novelist. These brilliant sketches move, as she herself did, from the West Indies of her childhood to England to Montparnasse and back again.
Here's a taste of what's on offer - The island of Dominica in the 1890's, a sleepy British empire outpost. From England appears Mr. Ramage, a handsome man in tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee. A young girl, Rosalie, falls in love with him, dreams about him, follows every detail of his increasing alienation and madness. He marries a not very nice girl, then retreats to a dilapidated plantation, walks around naked, and threatens a crowd with a shotgun. It doesn't end well for him. Then, there is Captain Cardew, one of those ebullient Victorian gentlemen, a hero of some bygone war. Under the trees in the Botanical Gardens, he caresses the breasts of Lolita aged Phoebe, and rabbits on to her about love and lovers. Nothing comes of it, but it does changes her outlook. Now she knows that there is something else beside collecting your trousseau, getting married, and having three nice children. That being a life of wickedness, and of excitement.
'Fishy Waters' is manly about the trial of Jimmy Longa, a befuddled English workman caught while threatening to saw a badly beaten little black girl in two with his carpenter's saw. But, midway in the story, the inferences of guilt begin to shift subtly, in the direction of her rescuer, Mr. Penrice, a respectable, prosperous family man. Then in London in the 1910's and Paris in the 1920's we have Daisie an incredibly beautiful understudy in a musical whose voice and beauty never seem to project across the footlights, where she falls unconscious at even the slightest reverse. 'The Chevalier of the Place Blanche' sees an embezzling clerk in a travel agency who has gentlemanly pretensions—he can, he finds, have Margaret, the English girl, and her money too, until she says the one thing that will cut down his shabby remnant of pride. The last story in the book, 'I Used to Live Here Once' is one of the best in the book. It's a ghost story, and I don't even like ghost stories, so that shows just what an effect it had on me. These are some of the themes and the people, but no thumbnails of plot can transmit the particular twang of Jean Rhys's uncomplicated and engaging style, or her splendid ability to choose what is said and to let the unsaid speak. The fact that the scenes themselves come from the West Indies or London or Paris of past decades has little bearing here, as like some of her novels these are very modern stories written with a quick, young sensibility. Whether in the small hours of the morning or at the fag end of the day, Rhys makes herself truly felt, resulting in a collection of stories that I greatly admired.
Here's a taste of what's on offer - The island of Dominica in the 1890's, a sleepy British empire outpost. From England appears Mr. Ramage, a handsome man in tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee. A young girl, Rosalie, falls in love with him, dreams about him, follows every detail of his increasing alienation and madness. He marries a not very nice girl, then retreats to a dilapidated plantation, walks around naked, and threatens a crowd with a shotgun. It doesn't end well for him. Then, there is Captain Cardew, one of those ebullient Victorian gentlemen, a hero of some bygone war. Under the trees in the Botanical Gardens, he caresses the breasts of Lolita aged Phoebe, and rabbits on to her about love and lovers. Nothing comes of it, but it does changes her outlook. Now she knows that there is something else beside collecting your trousseau, getting married, and having three nice children. That being a life of wickedness, and of excitement.
'Fishy Waters' is manly about the trial of Jimmy Longa, a befuddled English workman caught while threatening to saw a badly beaten little black girl in two with his carpenter's saw. But, midway in the story, the inferences of guilt begin to shift subtly, in the direction of her rescuer, Mr. Penrice, a respectable, prosperous family man. Then in London in the 1910's and Paris in the 1920's we have Daisie an incredibly beautiful understudy in a musical whose voice and beauty never seem to project across the footlights, where she falls unconscious at even the slightest reverse. 'The Chevalier of the Place Blanche' sees an embezzling clerk in a travel agency who has gentlemanly pretensions—he can, he finds, have Margaret, the English girl, and her money too, until she says the one thing that will cut down his shabby remnant of pride. The last story in the book, 'I Used to Live Here Once' is one of the best in the book. It's a ghost story, and I don't even like ghost stories, so that shows just what an effect it had on me. These are some of the themes and the people, but no thumbnails of plot can transmit the particular twang of Jean Rhys's uncomplicated and engaging style, or her splendid ability to choose what is said and to let the unsaid speak. The fact that the scenes themselves come from the West Indies or London or Paris of past decades has little bearing here, as like some of her novels these are very modern stories written with a quick, young sensibility. Whether in the small hours of the morning or at the fag end of the day, Rhys makes herself truly felt, resulting in a collection of stories that I greatly admired.
September 24, 2024
The late Jean Rhys remains my favourite writer ever and this selection of her work shines as only her words can. There was no one like her before, nor has there been anyone since. Her wry, brutally honest, self-deprecating voice is so beautifully tormented she's irresistible whatever your gender. She grabs you by the heart, chews you up and spits you out, somehow leaving you begging for more.
The heart wrenching title story sums up the book brilliantly, an excellent tale to choose. As with most of Rhys' work, a common thread in this collection is the theme of the displaced woman, the foreigner, the outsider, the stranger to this strange world of ours. We so readily take her into our hearts, understand and empathise completely. Her issues are ones most people have had at some time or other, but few have conveyed so succinctly.
These are the short works of an underrated enigma, in my opinion, who took my breath away from the first word of the first page of the first book I read of hers. This was the last of her fiction that I read, completing her life works. Unsurprisingly, she maintained her hypnotic hold over me to the last word. That was when I decided to start over and read her from scratch, every word, line, every book that she ever had published.
If you get one fleeting chance in a lifetime to read this cult status legend, you'd be nuts to consider letting it pass.
The heart wrenching title story sums up the book brilliantly, an excellent tale to choose. As with most of Rhys' work, a common thread in this collection is the theme of the displaced woman, the foreigner, the outsider, the stranger to this strange world of ours. We so readily take her into our hearts, understand and empathise completely. Her issues are ones most people have had at some time or other, but few have conveyed so succinctly.
These are the short works of an underrated enigma, in my opinion, who took my breath away from the first word of the first page of the first book I read of hers. This was the last of her fiction that I read, completing her life works. Unsurprisingly, she maintained her hypnotic hold over me to the last word. That was when I decided to start over and read her from scratch, every word, line, every book that she ever had published.
If you get one fleeting chance in a lifetime to read this cult status legend, you'd be nuts to consider letting it pass.
September 17, 2016
I hadn't read anything by Jean Rhys before reading this book, not even her most famous work Wide Sargasso Sea, so it may seem strange starting with this one; but I like short stories and it can sometimes be interesting taking a different route through an author's work than others. So, Sleep It Off Lady is a collection of short stories, published in 1976, and I believe was Rhys's last work to be published in her lifetime...but please correct me if I'm wrong about this. Months before her death she had started on her autobiography, Smile Please, which I assume was her project following this collection of stories and is one which would seem very natural as this collection of stories almost reads like a collection of autobiographical stories presented chronologically from her childhood in Dominica, her move to London and Paris, attempts at making a living as an actress and on to her life as an ageing outsider in the provinces. My knowledge of Rhys's life consists mainly of the Wikipedia entry and whatever I've gleaned from other posts I've read in the
Rhys Reading Week
but I think it's justifiable to say that the stories in this collection, although fictional, draw heavily upon her own life. Marina @ findingtimetowrite has also mentioned the similarities of subject and style with the two books.
The first few stories are set in the Caribbean at the turn of the 20th century. The first story, Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers, was a good one to start the collection; it begins with two young girls discussing the other inhabitants of the town and the narrative soon turns to the 'nasty beastly horrible Ramage', a handsome man, who had appeared a few years before and got married to a coloured girl, who couldn't even be described as a 'nice coloured girl'. Rumours about the goings-on at the Ramages' house attracts the locals' interest and ends rather badly. This story prepares us for the others in the collection as they concentrate on the outsider status of individuals in society, whether it's Ramage in this story or the other Rhys-like characters in England.
The last of the 'Caribbean stories' is Fishy Waters, which begins as an epistolary story which introduces the case of Jimmy Longa, another outsider, who was on trial for trying to saw a young girl in half. Longa had claimed that it was just a drunken joke but the girl had been traumatised by the event. The story also concentrates on how these events affect Matthew Penrice, who discovered Longa in the act and who had to give evidence at court. In the end it's not Longa's story, the little girl's story or Penrice's story that claims centre-ground, instead it's the whole society and the sense of alienation that they all feel.
But the alienation really kicks in with the subsequent stories as we encounter young girls at school and at work in England, recently arrived from the Caribbean. Not only do they have to encounter the cold weather but also a strange and bewildering social etiquette. Although Rhys's style is quite sparse, she occasionally treats us to some great descriptive prose; here we have a description of a maid at a school from the story, Overtures and Beginners Please:
Particlar favourites of mine are in the last third of the collection, such as Rapunzel, Rapunzel and the title story. Rapunzel, Rapunzel is a story about a stay in hospital followed by a period at a convalescent home. The narrator has to endure boredom, other patients and melancholy but another patient's encounter with a visiting barber is possibly even worse.
Sleep It Off Lady begins with the elderly Miss Verney talking about death, which has been on her mind recently. She has a mission to get rid of a shed on her property, only it's difficult to get anyone interested in the project.
The first few stories are set in the Caribbean at the turn of the 20th century. The first story, Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers, was a good one to start the collection; it begins with two young girls discussing the other inhabitants of the town and the narrative soon turns to the 'nasty beastly horrible Ramage', a handsome man, who had appeared a few years before and got married to a coloured girl, who couldn't even be described as a 'nice coloured girl'. Rumours about the goings-on at the Ramages' house attracts the locals' interest and ends rather badly. This story prepares us for the others in the collection as they concentrate on the outsider status of individuals in society, whether it's Ramage in this story or the other Rhys-like characters in England.
The last of the 'Caribbean stories' is Fishy Waters, which begins as an epistolary story which introduces the case of Jimmy Longa, another outsider, who was on trial for trying to saw a young girl in half. Longa had claimed that it was just a drunken joke but the girl had been traumatised by the event. The story also concentrates on how these events affect Matthew Penrice, who discovered Longa in the act and who had to give evidence at court. In the end it's not Longa's story, the little girl's story or Penrice's story that claims centre-ground, instead it's the whole society and the sense of alienation that they all feel.
But the alienation really kicks in with the subsequent stories as we encounter young girls at school and at work in England, recently arrived from the Caribbean. Not only do they have to encounter the cold weather but also a strange and bewildering social etiquette. Although Rhys's style is quite sparse, she occasionally treats us to some great descriptive prose; here we have a description of a maid at a school from the story, Overtures and Beginners Please:
The maid came in to light up and soon it would be time to go upstairs and change for dinner. I thought this woman one of the most fascinating I had ever seen. She had a long thin face, dead white, or powdered dead white. Her hair was black and lively under her cap, her eyes so small that the first time I saw her I thought she was blind. But wide open, they were the most astonishing blue, cornflower blue, no, more like sparks of blue fire. Then she would drop her eyelids and her face would go dead and lifeless again. I never tired of watching this transformation.And here is an excellent quote from one of the shorter stories that I feel sums up the feeling of most of the characters in these stories:
I had started out in life trusting everyone and now I trusted no one. So I had a few acquaintances and no close friends. It was perhaps in reaction against the inevitable loneliness of my life that I'd find myself doing bold, risky, even outrageous things without hesitation or surprise. I was usually disappointed in these adventures and they didn't have much effect on me, good or bad, but I never quite lost the hope of something better or different.Some of the othere stories are set in France, such as The Chevalier of the Place Blanche where the Chevalier is in need of money to pay off a debt but when he is offered the money from a young girl on the condition that he accompanies her to Madrid he cannot accept. Neither he nor the girl are particularly surprised and each goes their separate way.
Particlar favourites of mine are in the last third of the collection, such as Rapunzel, Rapunzel and the title story. Rapunzel, Rapunzel is a story about a stay in hospital followed by a period at a convalescent home. The narrator has to endure boredom, other patients and melancholy but another patient's encounter with a visiting barber is possibly even worse.
Sleep It Off Lady begins with the elderly Miss Verney talking about death, which has been on her mind recently. She has a mission to get rid of a shed on her property, only it's difficult to get anyone interested in the project.
Left alone, Miss Verney felt so old, lonely and helpless that she began to cry. No builder would tackle that shed, not for any price she could afford. But crying relieved her and she soon felt quite cheerful again. It was ridiculous to brood, she told herself.Being elderly and living alone is problematic as there are rats on her property, though no-one believes her, and there is always the problem of putting the rubbish out. This is a rather sombre tale but it's probably my favourite in the collection and is a fitting conclusion to those that preceeded it as it's about ageing, loneliness, alienation, helplessness and decay...with a bit of indifference thrown in for good measure.
April 6, 2013
Stories by the Divine Miss Rhys, whiffs of the same heady perfume that permeates her novels. An uneven collection, but several of these stories are absolutely perfect flashes of insight into the souls of those on the fringes of the playing field. Yes, she writes, as usual, about her own life experiences, but her capacity of being both the detached observer and the fragile lost bird is rich, devastating, and elegant.
November 11, 2022
This set of sixteen tales is remarkable, brilliant. It is breathtaking, sometimes a little heartbreaking. Reading it was like watching the tableaux.
The stories show us a woman's lot and a study of human being. From childhood, through growing up and adulthood to old age and death. There was about prejudice, dreams vs. reality, slavery, the truth and memory vs. reality.
I have no doubts that Jean Rhys had a perceptive eye. She went to the core of being a woman.
There was also a clash between culture of West Indian and of GB at the end of XIX and at the beginning of XX century. Like in "Wide Sargasso Sea" it was a good parallel with the fictional, personal stories.
The title (which is also a title of one of the tales) was chosen perfectly. I have a feeling that Rhys told me: 'sleep it off lady', that she wanted to tell us all (the women): 'yes, life is very hard sometimes but you will survive and sometimes just sleep it off'.
I add a summary from my edition of the book:
The stories show us a woman's lot and a study of human being. From childhood, through growing up and adulthood to old age and death. There was about prejudice, dreams vs. reality, slavery, the truth and memory vs. reality.
I read all this, then I thought but it wasn't like that, it wasn't like that at all.
There is no control over memory.
I have no doubts that Jean Rhys had a perceptive eye. She went to the core of being a woman.
There was also a clash between culture of West Indian and of GB at the end of XIX and at the beginning of XX century. Like in "Wide Sargasso Sea" it was a good parallel with the fictional, personal stories.
The title (which is also a title of one of the tales) was chosen perfectly. I have a feeling that Rhys told me: 'sleep it off lady', that she wanted to tell us all (the women): 'yes, life is very hard sometimes but you will survive and sometimes just sleep it off'.
I add a summary from my edition of the book:
Sixteen tales, uncannily and vividly drawn together like the fragments of a single life - childhood innocence destroyed under a louring Caribbean sky; youthful disenchantment with the London stage life of the 1910s; brief encounters in the brittle gaiety of a Parisian nightclub and in London during the Blitz; followed by the slow, inevitable descent into old age and lonliness; and after death, the return.
March 4, 2010
I just finished this collection of short stories, with a theme, after having just finished the author's "After Leaving Mr Mckenzie." I prefer this collection of short stories, with the theme of aging -- from childhood through adulthood and into old age. I found the writing much better than in the novel I had just read previous to this book. Each short story stands on its own, but each is tied to the next by the passage of age.
Read
June 13, 2025I suspect not many writers have the sang froid to write so vividly about their own undignified decline and ignominious death, but Jean Rhys is one such writer.
This collection of vignettes - they are not really short stories in the conventional sense - is her final published work (1976 - Rhys died in 1979). Although written in the third person and in the voice of a mixture of male and female characters, the pieces are undoubtedly personal and are arranged chronologically, starting with Rhys' childhood in Dominica, followed by her move to a grey, unwelcoming London at age 16, then the dissolute Paris years and closing with her decrepitude in Cornwall, undetected, unlamented and largely assumed to be dead.
Most of the stories have Rhys' familiar self-critical cruelty (after an unsuccessful attempt at seduction, our heroine departs, 'putting on her hat without looking in the glass, the unnatural creature'), and the pieces get better as the book continues, especially 'Insect World', a story of personal isolation, alienation and longing, which Rhys does so well, and the eponymous piece in which 'Miss Varney's' elderly obsession with a (possibly imaginary) rat in her garden shed takes centre stage:
'No rat 'ere' says her neighbour Tom, looking at her with sly, mocking, even hostile eyes. She knew that the bottles in her dustbin were counted and discussed in the village.
This is very close to the bone, because it is indeed how Rhys' life ended, but what steely-eyed courage she had to write about it so coolly. I think there's probably a small band of us out here who just adore her for the sheer clear-sighted, unflinching nerve of her.
This collection of vignettes - they are not really short stories in the conventional sense - is her final published work (1976 - Rhys died in 1979). Although written in the third person and in the voice of a mixture of male and female characters, the pieces are undoubtedly personal and are arranged chronologically, starting with Rhys' childhood in Dominica, followed by her move to a grey, unwelcoming London at age 16, then the dissolute Paris years and closing with her decrepitude in Cornwall, undetected, unlamented and largely assumed to be dead.
Most of the stories have Rhys' familiar self-critical cruelty (after an unsuccessful attempt at seduction, our heroine departs, 'putting on her hat without looking in the glass, the unnatural creature'), and the pieces get better as the book continues, especially 'Insect World', a story of personal isolation, alienation and longing, which Rhys does so well, and the eponymous piece in which 'Miss Varney's' elderly obsession with a (possibly imaginary) rat in her garden shed takes centre stage:
'No rat 'ere' says her neighbour Tom, looking at her with sly, mocking, even hostile eyes. She knew that the bottles in her dustbin were counted and discussed in the village.
This is very close to the bone, because it is indeed how Rhys' life ended, but what steely-eyed courage she had to write about it so coolly. I think there's probably a small band of us out here who just adore her for the sheer clear-sighted, unflinching nerve of her.
August 18, 2025
Jean Rhys okuyunca onu çok sevdiğimi fark ettim yine. 16 öykü var kitapta. Hepsi de kısa tabii. İlk öykülerde kendi anılarını anlattığı anlaşılıyor, sonlara doğru kurguya kayıyor ve kitap daha da zevkli hale gelirken öyküleri bitiriyor. Özellikle, Kimbilir Tavan Arasında Ne Var, Sen Uyumaya Bak İyi Gelir, Dalda Duran Kuşlar, Tufandan Önce, Bulanık Sular çok iyi.
October 31, 2017
As much an autobiography as a short story collection, SLEEP IT OFF LADY starts with fictionalised versions of Jean Rhys’s Dominican childhood, then moves onto events drawn from her time working as a chorus girl in London, then to Paris and failed love affairs, and then to old age, and then death. Few of the characters recur, but in the final assessment, one character appears on almost every page: that of the author herself, in a series of shallow disguises.
A few of the stories are, I think, masterpieces: the controlled hysteria of ‘The Insect World’ with its Shirley Jackson style crack-up; and the dreadfully sad title story, where an elderly lady finds herself haunted by a garden shed and a rat. Taken as a single work (as a novel, even) it is extraordinary, as rich and readable as it is unique, and its page-long coda, ‘I Used to Live Here Once’, provides a strange, perfect resolution.
A few of the stories are, I think, masterpieces: the controlled hysteria of ‘The Insect World’ with its Shirley Jackson style crack-up; and the dreadfully sad title story, where an elderly lady finds herself haunted by a garden shed and a rat. Taken as a single work (as a novel, even) it is extraordinary, as rich and readable as it is unique, and its page-long coda, ‘I Used to Live Here Once’, provides a strange, perfect resolution.
March 28, 2017
some great stories here, at the beginning the ones set in the Caribbean are full of danger and threat and curiosity and heat, the ones set in English boarding schools portray alienation and budding sexuality, and the Parisian ones are more mature, sexual; but the best one is the title story towards the end - an excellent 'descent' story as an elderly woman succumbs to illness. If some of the ones in the middle are lesser pieces, they all still have moments of insight, and lightness-of-touch but electric writing. A master at work.
January 23, 2024
Although I'm gad that this collection exists, it is, sadly, the least of Jean Rhys's otherwise pretty stellar bibliography. Although there are a couple of wonderful stories, most of the collection is padded out with very short sketches or vignettes, bits of lovey prose that fail to become compete stories. Overall the collection reads more like a glimpse into a writer's memories and notebook than a published work of art. That is, of curse, interesting in and of itself, but I have to rate the work as per its pretensions and thus it's merely good, not a great or amazing collection of stories overall. Still, those three or four good tales were really good--as good as anything in Tigers are Better-Looking, a much more quality collection overall.
May 17, 2025
Adored the title story.
September 14, 2016
Sleep It Off Lady is a loosely chronological collection of short stories, which mirrors Jean Rhys's own life. It starts with her childhood home of Dominica, though these are not cheerful tales of a tropical island paradise, but explore the same themes as her most famous novel Wide Sargasso Sea: madness, violence and racial tensions.
Having read Rhys's collected letters, I can see many familiar preoccupations here, such as the dehumanising effects of poverty, the city, loneliness, isolation, illness and old age. Also, the tribulations of the British weather: Jean Rhys detested the cold and often employs pathetic fallacy to imbue the weather with maudlin emotional significance.
As a fan of Jean Rhys, I found this collection enjoyable, but to someone who has never read anything by her, I would suggest reading her novels first.
Having read Rhys's collected letters, I can see many familiar preoccupations here, such as the dehumanising effects of poverty, the city, loneliness, isolation, illness and old age. Also, the tribulations of the British weather: Jean Rhys detested the cold and often employs pathetic fallacy to imbue the weather with maudlin emotional significance.
As a fan of Jean Rhys, I found this collection enjoyable, but to someone who has never read anything by her, I would suggest reading her novels first.
April 10, 2019
Yazarı ilk kez bu kitabıyla tanımış oldum.Nasıl başladığı ve nasıl bittiği belli olmayan,aşırı karamsar ve tuhaf hikayelerden oluşan bu kitabı hiç sevmedim.Karalamalarını gözden geçirmeden ilk yazıldığı gibi basılmıştı sanki.16 hikayede de bu sıkıntılı his geçmek bilmedi.Umarım,bu hikaye ile satın aldığım diğer iki romanında fikrimi değiştirebilirim.
December 22, 2019
A sharply-observed, brilliant, sad, haunting collection of stories. A powerful little book.
October 6, 2021
Rating 3.5
This short Story Collection felt like a Collection of vignettes. Most of the stories like Fishy Waters, Kikimoro, Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose are sparsely written but wonderfully executed. They often display a wry sense of humour but requires slow unhurried parce to capture the intent of the prose.
I‘m looking forward to another short story collection from this Dominican author who recalls her past and incorporated all her experiences in England and France.
This short Story Collection felt like a Collection of vignettes. Most of the stories like Fishy Waters, Kikimoro, Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose are sparsely written but wonderfully executed. They often display a wry sense of humour but requires slow unhurried parce to capture the intent of the prose.
I‘m looking forward to another short story collection from this Dominican author who recalls her past and incorporated all her experiences in England and France.
December 9, 2022
3.5 rounded up
February 21, 2018
"So Miss Verney waited in the darkness for the Super Rat" is my new favorite line and "Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose" is maybe the most perfect story ever.
April 13, 2020
Once upon a time I was an undergrad Arts student. I was going to study English and History. One of my first semester English classes was Modern Literature. I had no idea 'modern' was a critical term rather than just a temporal one; I had never done any literary theory or real critique. I discovered that I loved Orlando (Virginia Woolf) and could barely keep my eyes open for Dubliners (James Joyce); I was captivated by Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) and finally watched Apocalypse Now as a result. And I read Good Morning, Midnight and I don't even really remember the story but I remember being absolutely bowled over by Jean Rhys. I later read Wide Sargasso Sea (because I kinda do love Jane Eyre) and was astonished all over again.
Some years later I supported The Second Shelf in their Kickstarter, and as part of my reward I got a first edition of Sleep it Off Lady, a collection of Rhys' short stories. This was a pretty great result for me, since I had let her fall off my radar, and now I could re-discover this writer that A. Alvarez in 1974 called "quite simply the best living English novelist".
In some ways I don't really know how to talk about this collection. They are, by and large, realist fiction - and most are more along the vignette line, rather than having fully developed narratives. But all of them comment on some aspect of life, or relationships, or social interactions. And none of them have superfluous words and none of them are sentimental and all of them left me thinking about what life is like.
"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers" is set on a Caribbean island, where Rhys grew up; from the perspective of a young girl we get a view on how the Europeans might view another European who doesn't really match their idea of how a European man should act.
"Goodby Marcus, Goodbye Rose" is also set on a Caribbean island, again told from the perspective of a young girl... whose innocence and expectations of an ordinary life are basically removed when an old man grabs her breast.
Some of the vignettes are reflections on being a young woman in the pre- and inter-war years in Britain, or Paris. And several are haunting reflections on getting old, as a woman, and how people might view you, and how you might view yourself.
This is a really short collection and all of the stories are short, too. They pack an immense punch and they will definitely be re-read.
Some years later I supported The Second Shelf in their Kickstarter, and as part of my reward I got a first edition of Sleep it Off Lady, a collection of Rhys' short stories. This was a pretty great result for me, since I had let her fall off my radar, and now I could re-discover this writer that A. Alvarez in 1974 called "quite simply the best living English novelist".
In some ways I don't really know how to talk about this collection. They are, by and large, realist fiction - and most are more along the vignette line, rather than having fully developed narratives. But all of them comment on some aspect of life, or relationships, or social interactions. And none of them have superfluous words and none of them are sentimental and all of them left me thinking about what life is like.
"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers" is set on a Caribbean island, where Rhys grew up; from the perspective of a young girl we get a view on how the Europeans might view another European who doesn't really match their idea of how a European man should act.
"Goodby Marcus, Goodbye Rose" is also set on a Caribbean island, again told from the perspective of a young girl... whose innocence and expectations of an ordinary life are basically removed when an old man grabs her breast.
Some of the vignettes are reflections on being a young woman in the pre- and inter-war years in Britain, or Paris. And several are haunting reflections on getting old, as a woman, and how people might view you, and how you might view yourself.
This is a really short collection and all of the stories are short, too. They pack an immense punch and they will definitely be re-read.
December 12, 2021
Beautifully written and interesting as a kind of alternative autobiography, spanning as it does basically the full span of Rhys’ life and providing snapshots from several formative moments therein. Snapshots is what they are though, and not much more.
May 30, 2012
More like sketches, or first drafts, of stories she had already written, but they do hint at her later life and her fears around growing old. Better to read any of her other short stories or novels first...
August 2, 2024
3.25
Most stories were written in the smooth, calm, but enchanting, Rhys style, and I enjoyed them. One seemed weirdly out of character, and I wasn’t a fan. It was enjoyable but didn’t blow me away.
Most stories were written in the smooth, calm, but enchanting, Rhys style, and I enjoyed them. One seemed weirdly out of character, and I wasn’t a fan. It was enjoyable but didn’t blow me away.
July 29, 2024
I really liked this short story collection. This is my first time reading anything by Jean Rhys and I will definitely read more. I gave summaries of each story below:
Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers
Set in 1899 in an island in the Caribbean, local eccentric Mr Ramage is the talk of the town. He bought a small castle in the forest away from people and married a black woman. People can’t help but gossip about them as they are said to fight all the time and she is “not a nice black woman”. He is also fond of lounging around his property naked. When his wife goes missing people jump to the conclusion her murdered her. The ending is vague, but he was either killed by a mob of people, or he killed himself. His wife was away and was not dead; she was present at his funeral.
Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose
A short story about a captain and his wife visiting Jamaica for the winter. The old captain takes a liking to a young 12 year old and takes her on long walks. During these walks he talks of adult things like love, sex, and how it’s not sweet and tender, but violent. Very strange story.
The Bishop’s Feast
This one was only a few pages long about I believe the author visiting Dominica and recapping a story of her childhood about a nun who was dedicated to the work she was doing there, vowing never to leave the island and a bitter old Bishop.
Heat
A short story about an eruption of Mt. Pelée in Martinique that killed 40,000 people and the years of gossip suggesting it happened due to iniquity and whoredoms.
Fishy Waters
The story starts off with letters between a newspaper and people pissed off regarding the incarceration of Mr Longa. He is a very vocal socialist who is being held on child molestation charges. The rest of the story goes through the actual court case. Longa is set free, on agreement to leave for England immediately. The main witness, Mr Pentrice, is suspected of having done the abuse and pinned it on Mr Longa.
Overture and Beginners Please
A story of a girl who is in some sort of boarding school. She tells of her strict guardians, cold bedroom, and visits for tea with a neighboring family member on her fathers side. She also tells of her father’s passing and her pursuing an acting career. So far my least favorite.
Before the Deluge
A short story about an actress named Daisy who was very attractive and a bit of a prima dona
On not Shooting Sitting Birds
The narrator tells of an awkward date where she lies about shooting birds
Kikimora
The story of a Baron coming over for dinner and the house cat that scratches him. He is a misogynist.
Night Out 1925
A man and a woman go to a club, I think a strip club, and do not have a good time. the woman ends up giving the strippers some of the man’s money. She goes home on a bus and he vows to never have a date with her again.
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche
A man meets a woman in a restaurant. He owes a company 30,000 francs and she is willing to give him the money if he moves to Madrid with her, but her refuses.
The insect world
The story of Aubrey who goes to town to meet a friend and do some shopping in her day off
Rapunzel, Rapunzel
A woman in a hospital tells of her short time there and how a woman next to her had her beautiful hair cut when she only wanted a trim and she was taken away days later.
Who Knows what’s up in the attic
A woman met a man in Holland and he comes to visit her many months later. They spend the day together and she is offered to go with him to Italy, but it is complicated as he is married. She declines the invite.
Sleep it off lady
A woman afraid of rats in her shed falls and can’t get up. Middle of winter. She dies.
I used to live here once
A woman visits a place she used to live, where children are playing.
Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers
Set in 1899 in an island in the Caribbean, local eccentric Mr Ramage is the talk of the town. He bought a small castle in the forest away from people and married a black woman. People can’t help but gossip about them as they are said to fight all the time and she is “not a nice black woman”. He is also fond of lounging around his property naked. When his wife goes missing people jump to the conclusion her murdered her. The ending is vague, but he was either killed by a mob of people, or he killed himself. His wife was away and was not dead; she was present at his funeral.
Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose
A short story about a captain and his wife visiting Jamaica for the winter. The old captain takes a liking to a young 12 year old and takes her on long walks. During these walks he talks of adult things like love, sex, and how it’s not sweet and tender, but violent. Very strange story.
The Bishop’s Feast
This one was only a few pages long about I believe the author visiting Dominica and recapping a story of her childhood about a nun who was dedicated to the work she was doing there, vowing never to leave the island and a bitter old Bishop.
Heat
A short story about an eruption of Mt. Pelée in Martinique that killed 40,000 people and the years of gossip suggesting it happened due to iniquity and whoredoms.
Fishy Waters
The story starts off with letters between a newspaper and people pissed off regarding the incarceration of Mr Longa. He is a very vocal socialist who is being held on child molestation charges. The rest of the story goes through the actual court case. Longa is set free, on agreement to leave for England immediately. The main witness, Mr Pentrice, is suspected of having done the abuse and pinned it on Mr Longa.
Overture and Beginners Please
A story of a girl who is in some sort of boarding school. She tells of her strict guardians, cold bedroom, and visits for tea with a neighboring family member on her fathers side. She also tells of her father’s passing and her pursuing an acting career. So far my least favorite.
Before the Deluge
A short story about an actress named Daisy who was very attractive and a bit of a prima dona
On not Shooting Sitting Birds
The narrator tells of an awkward date where she lies about shooting birds
Kikimora
The story of a Baron coming over for dinner and the house cat that scratches him. He is a misogynist.
Night Out 1925
A man and a woman go to a club, I think a strip club, and do not have a good time. the woman ends up giving the strippers some of the man’s money. She goes home on a bus and he vows to never have a date with her again.
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche
A man meets a woman in a restaurant. He owes a company 30,000 francs and she is willing to give him the money if he moves to Madrid with her, but her refuses.
The insect world
The story of Aubrey who goes to town to meet a friend and do some shopping in her day off
Rapunzel, Rapunzel
A woman in a hospital tells of her short time there and how a woman next to her had her beautiful hair cut when she only wanted a trim and she was taken away days later.
Who Knows what’s up in the attic
A woman met a man in Holland and he comes to visit her many months later. They spend the day together and she is offered to go with him to Italy, but it is complicated as he is married. She declines the invite.
Sleep it off lady
A woman afraid of rats in her shed falls and can’t get up. Middle of winter. She dies.
I used to live here once
A woman visits a place she used to live, where children are playing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2022
Some of these stories are said in the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo, and some are set in england. Only stories that I rated three stars or higher are included here.
Pioneers, Oh Pioneers 3 stars
Mr ramage comes to Barbados to buy a home and find peace. But because he marries a black woman, people living there won't leave him in peace. They end up killing him.
Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose, 3 stars
The "Captain" comes to the island where a little girl lives, with his wife. They decide to stay awhile, and the captain invites her on walks.
The first time they go out for a walk, they sit down on a bench in a park, and he speaks to her about soon having boyfriends, Because she's 12 years old. Then he teaches in her shirt and fondles her.
The significance of the title is that she knows now she's not a good girl and she'll never have children, the ones she's named in advance Marcus and rose.
I had an Uncle Norman who was something like this.
They should cut off their penises when they're born.
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche, 4 stars
A delightful story of a petty, pissy, tightwad little French man. He thinks he's going to get money out of an English woman, but can't stand it when she acts like men do: telling him she doesn't want him to make love to her, not being impressed by him. 🤣
The Insect World, 3 stars
About this young woman named Audrey, who lives in England during the blitz, and she's unhappy in her life. Mostly I like this story because she was reading a book about tropical insects. She became fascinated with jiggers and termites, even dreaming about them.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, 3 stars
A story about a woman in England who has a heart attack, then gets discharged from the hospital into a nursing home. Her neighbor in the next bed has beautiful long silver hair.
One day a Barber comes in and asks if anyone wants a cut or shampoo; the long haired woman says she wants a trim. "I have to be careful of split ends, you know," She says to her neighbor. The man tricks her, and cuts half her hair off, fatally.
Sleep It Off, Lady, 3 stars
What happens when you're alone, lonely, old, and you drink all day? A sad tale.
Pioneers, Oh Pioneers 3 stars
Mr ramage comes to Barbados to buy a home and find peace. But because he marries a black woman, people living there won't leave him in peace. They end up killing him.
Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose, 3 stars
The "Captain" comes to the island where a little girl lives, with his wife. They decide to stay awhile, and the captain invites her on walks.
The first time they go out for a walk, they sit down on a bench in a park, and he speaks to her about soon having boyfriends, Because she's 12 years old. Then he teaches in her shirt and fondles her.
The significance of the title is that she knows now she's not a good girl and she'll never have children, the ones she's named in advance Marcus and rose.
I had an Uncle Norman who was something like this.
They should cut off their penises when they're born.
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche, 4 stars
A delightful story of a petty, pissy, tightwad little French man. He thinks he's going to get money out of an English woman, but can't stand it when she acts like men do: telling him she doesn't want him to make love to her, not being impressed by him. 🤣
The Insect World, 3 stars
About this young woman named Audrey, who lives in England during the blitz, and she's unhappy in her life. Mostly I like this story because she was reading a book about tropical insects. She became fascinated with jiggers and termites, even dreaming about them.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, 3 stars
A story about a woman in England who has a heart attack, then gets discharged from the hospital into a nursing home. Her neighbor in the next bed has beautiful long silver hair.
One day a Barber comes in and asks if anyone wants a cut or shampoo; the long haired woman says she wants a trim. "I have to be careful of split ends, you know," She says to her neighbor. The man tricks her, and cuts half her hair off, fatally.
Sleep It Off, Lady, 3 stars
What happens when you're alone, lonely, old, and you drink all day? A sad tale.
April 5, 2023
Short story collection. As with all such collections there are some I like more than others but overall I really enjoyed this book in its entirety. It has got me thinking that I need to read more of Rhys's work, as before this I had only read Wide Sargasso Sea. There is a range of locations of ages of the women we meet in these stories, but in general it feels as though it is working through a person's life span with the final little story being particularly poignant to that. There are quite a few characters that seem to be suffering from some kind of apathetic depression or anxiety - but this isn't a collection of stories about mental conditions in that way. And I suppose its dated, as this was published in the 1970s towards the end of her life. And people didn't perhaps go into the naval gazing gory details of their health conditions. But then sometimes the less said the more powerful the image.
There are quite a few stories set in the Carribean, in particular Dominica. There aas one about a carpenter who didn't fit in with the local society being accused of attacking a young black girl, and the following court case that was interesting. Ambiguous in a clever way. Never came out and said exactly what was going on, but.... There are also stories of England and France. I don't know all that much about Rhys's life, but with the geography and the ageing of the characters throughout I wonder if there are some biographical echoes in here.
There are quite a few stories set in the Carribean, in particular Dominica. There aas one about a carpenter who didn't fit in with the local society being accused of attacking a young black girl, and the following court case that was interesting. Ambiguous in a clever way. Never came out and said exactly what was going on, but.... There are also stories of England and France. I don't know all that much about Rhys's life, but with the geography and the ageing of the characters throughout I wonder if there are some biographical echoes in here.
October 9, 2022
Een paar weken geleden lag in de kringloop schuin over mijn deur plots het volledige oeuvre van Jean Rhys. Allemaal schattige, wat vergeelde pocketjes, waarvoor men amper 1.5€ vroeg. Daar ik nog nooit iets las van deze schrijfster, onderdrukte ik mijn impulsiviteit en kocht ik enkel dit boekje. Het plan was om ’s avonds alvast twee kortverhalen te lezen en op basis daarvan te beslissen of ik ook de andere werken naar mijn hol zou sleuren. En nu heb ik dus spijt, want toen ik de volgende ochtend terug naar de kringloop toog, bleek een ander met minder impulscontrole me al voor geweest. Het leven is aan de rappen, zoals ze hier in Gent zeggen.
Na de eerste twee verhalen, die me zeer bevielen, stelden ook de volgende veertien niet teleur. Vrolijk word je wel niet van de verhalen van Rhys, maar ze intrigeren stuk voor stuk. Misschien moet ik me nu ook maar eens wagen aan haar klassieker, die hier al langer in de kast staat.
Na de eerste twee verhalen, die me zeer bevielen, stelden ook de volgende veertien niet teleur. Vrolijk word je wel niet van de verhalen van Rhys, maar ze intrigeren stuk voor stuk. Misschien moet ik me nu ook maar eens wagen aan haar klassieker, die hier al langer in de kast staat.
May 30, 2025
4.5* so beautifully written although I felt more engaged with some stories than others (but I guess that’s typical.) Considering I don’t really enjoy short stories I found this incredible. My favourite stories (and ones that I’ll come back to in the future:) ‘Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers,’ ‘Kikimora,’ ‘The Insect World,’ ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel,’ ‘Sleep It Off Lady,’ and ‘I Used to Live Here Once.’
My favourite excerpt:
'I used to live here once,' she said.
Still they didn't answer. When she said for the third time
'Hello' she was quite near them. Her arms went out instinctively with the longing to touch them.
It was the boy who turned. His grey eyes looked straight into hers. His expression didn't change. He said: 'Hasn't it gone cold all of a sudden. D'you notice? Let's go in.' "Yes let's,' said the girl.
Her arms fell to her sides as she watched them running across the grass to the house. That was the first time she knew.
My favourite excerpt:
'I used to live here once,' she said.
Still they didn't answer. When she said for the third time
'Hello' she was quite near them. Her arms went out instinctively with the longing to touch them.
It was the boy who turned. His grey eyes looked straight into hers. His expression didn't change. He said: 'Hasn't it gone cold all of a sudden. D'you notice? Let's go in.' "Yes let's,' said the girl.
Her arms fell to her sides as she watched them running across the grass to the house. That was the first time she knew.
Read
June 20, 2025The cover of my version had a bohemian scarf- and bead-clad woman with the sort of challenging stare I expect Jean Rhys had. These stories, some almost just fragments, are quite unlike anything else I've read. Each one paints a vivid picture, often a quite momentary glimpse inside someone's life, and presumably Jean Rhys's own life, given the frequent appearance of the Caribbean, the stage, and alcohol. Much is in dialogue and often reflects an inner monologue, jumping from one topic to another. I especially liked The Insect World, featuring Audrey, a woman in wartime London reading a marginalia-scribbled book about the tropics, Nothing So Blue. The terror of the blitz lies underneath her flippant and challenging response to others, and the image of Londoners on the tube as insects is compelling.The stories aren't neat and wrapped up, but more like moments in a stream. The title story captures so well the inner life of an old woman who would otherwise be written off as a crazy old alcoholic. There's often a dreamlike sense where characters don't know what day it is and don't necessarily mind that: one day Miss Verney wakes up feeling " very well and very happy. Also she was not at all certain where she was." If it does reflects the author's life, it gives a richer picture than you might gain by looking, and perhaps pitying or moralising, from the outside.
August 11, 2023
Atmospheric, Tender and reflective of old age and young, subtle male aggression and female fragility... and death.
Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers 4/5 (male that doesn't follow conventions)
Good-bye Marcus, Good-Bye Rose 3/5
The Bishop's Feast 3/5
Heat 3/5 (postcolonial)
Fishy Waters 2/5(racism)
Overture and Beginners Please 2/5
Before the Deluge 2/5
On Not Shooting Sitting Birds 4/5
Kikimora 4/5
Night Out 1925 2/5
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche2/5
The Insect World 5/5
Rapunzel, Rapunzel 4/5
Who knows What's Up in the Attic? 3/5
Sleep it off Lady 4/5
I Used to Live Here Once 3/5
Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers 4/5 (male that doesn't follow conventions)
Good-bye Marcus, Good-Bye Rose 3/5
The Bishop's Feast 3/5
Heat 3/5 (postcolonial)
Fishy Waters 2/5(racism)
Overture and Beginners Please 2/5
Before the Deluge 2/5
On Not Shooting Sitting Birds 4/5
Kikimora 4/5
Night Out 1925 2/5
The Chevalier of the Place Blanche2/5
The Insect World 5/5
Rapunzel, Rapunzel 4/5
Who knows What's Up in the Attic? 3/5
Sleep it off Lady 4/5
I Used to Live Here Once 3/5
March 10, 2019
16 short stories, many experimental and fun, like a series of drafts or sketches of some of her more important works.
A full up fan, my favourite female author. To write with such honesty and also simply and humbly , and be vulnerable and vicious at the same time, there is no-one like her I have read.
Moves from Paris, Dominica, London, English countryside, its all a joy. Loved it.
A full up fan, my favourite female author. To write with such honesty and also simply and humbly , and be vulnerable and vicious at the same time, there is no-one like her I have read.
Moves from Paris, Dominica, London, English countryside, its all a joy. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews