Of madwomen and eels.

One of my favorite, required reading books from college was Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys. (And I just love that name, "Rhys.")

This was the "precursor" to Jane Eyre, written one-hundred-or-so years (again, don't feel like checking) after the original work, and it told the story of Mr. Rochester's first wife, that madwoman in the attic he called Bertha.

The title is just so perfect, as the Sargasso Sea is the locale at which Atlantic eels meet to spawn and then die.

Read this slate.com article, and then read Wide Sargasso Sea.

Just do it.

Update on Monday, March 1, 2010 at 11:13AM by Erin K. Rice

Well, shame on me. Of course Mr. Rochester called his first wife "Bertha." Not the attic. That's what I get for rushing to post an entry. I will berate myself for the rest of the day over this one. You think I'm joking...but I'm not.