I Used to Live Here Once

An intimate biography of Jean Rhys, acclaimed author of Wide Sargasso Sea, this book explores her extraordinary life from her Caribbean childhood to her years as an exile in 1920s Paris and England. Miranda Seymour illuminates Rhys's complex personal experiences—including tragedy, hardship, and tumult—that shaped her compelling fiction and unforgettable characters. Drawing a nuanced portrait of a fiercely independent and profoundly contemporary woman, the biography reveals how her vibrant life informed her influential writing.