Description
Book SynopsisIn this book, Lucy Wilson addresses the need for both authors and their female protagonists to immerse themselves in their communities and nations and to join the dialogue that has traditionally been reserved for men. However, the need for women to join the discourse crosses all geographical boundaries. Wilson takes the lessons she has learned from strong West Indian female characters, and the creative minds that bring them to life, and in turn encourages all women to find strength in themselves. In Due Season is a collection of essays that have appeared in journals and anthologies between 1986 and 2006. The essays in Part One discuss the need for a new model of female development as the traditional bildungsroman is incompatible with the world experienced by contemporary female characters from developing nations. Part Two analyzes the major works of Jean Rhys, including Wide Sargasso Sea and Voyage in the Dark.
Trade ReviewAn illuminating discussion of some of the principal thematic and stylistic elements which define a genre and distinguish an important cluster of contemporary West Indian women writers. Wilson deftly examines and clarifies the sometimes complex issues and positions involved in the surrounding theoretical debates, while not losing sight of the relationship between literature and society, literature and women's lives, and the aesthetic, cultural, and historical aspects which differentiate European women's writings from African diasporan women's works — something which often befuddles less informed critics. A significant contribution to the critical canon. -- Roland E. Bush, Ph. D., Review Editor, Journal of Caribbean Studies
Admirably lucid and readable, these essays explore and illuminate areas of literature too little known by American readers. Lucy Wilson's subtle and intelligent book is the perfect place for readers to begin broadening their horizon to include in the canon of the Americas the overlooked wonders of Caribbean fiction. -- Alan Wilde, author of Horizons of Assent and Middle Grounds
This collection of essays attests to the clarity of Dr. Wilson's literary observations and to her ability to shape and refine her vision over a number of years as a scholar with a keen interest in Anglophone Caribbean women's writing. These fresh perspectives will be of great value to serious students and readers with an interest in Caribbean literature. -- Avis G. McDonald, Independent Scholar, Sydney, Australia
This choice collection of influential essays provides the definitive account of how life narration in the Caribbean and its Diaspora is modulated by gender. A must-read for scholars and students of English, Women's Studies, and Caribbean Studies. -- Roberto Strongman, Black Studies, UCSB
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Acknowledgements Chapter 2 Forward Chapter 3 Introduction: In Due Season: Coming of Age in Caribbean Literature Part 4 Part I: Stages of Female Development Chapter 5 Dialogic Interplay in Coming-of-Age Novels by West Indian Women Writers Chapter 6 The Novel of Relational Autonomy: West Indian Writers and the Evolution of Genre Chapter 7 Aging and Ageism in Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow and Beryl Gilroy's Frangipani House Chapter 8 Reading Kincaid's The Autobiography of My Mother Part 9 Part II: Jean Rhys's West Indian Outcasts Chapter 10 'Women Must Have Spunks': Jean Rhys's West Indian Outcasts Chapter 11 European or Caribbean: Jean Rhys and the Language of Exile Chapter 12 Helen of the Culture Wars: Jean Rhys and the Critics
