Voyage in the Dark
Voyage in the Dark is a novel written by Jean Rhys, a student of Ford Madox Ford (aha!) and, from what I can tell, also a literary impressionist. It is the story of a woman named Anna told from her own perspective. Moved from the British territory in the Caribbean to England at the age of 16, she cannot get adjusted to the cold, foggy weather of London and always feels cold and ill. She has a stepmother she could live with but chooses rather to make it on her own and ends up with a wealthy sugar daddy who will pay for everything. When she finally falls in love with him, he decides to leave her. Even though her friends had warned her that this might happen, she cannot accept it. It makes her a bit crazy, but she learns to carry on. I liked this story at first because of the narrative style and the bleakness of London being translated very well through the myriad descriptions of boring gray streets that always run north south east and west and have names like Lord Street and Berkeley Street, etc. The characters are quite comical, and are liable to explode at random intervals for the slightest reasons. Anna's constant reminiscing of her old house in the West Indies and the people who lived there also interested me. She has a real affection, albeit a slightly racist one, for the black servants that she lived with while there. The end was about the only thing I totally disliked. I won't spoil anything, but you should probably read it if you have a few hours free. It isn't long, and you might just like it. (181 pages)