After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (Norton Paperback Fiction)
Julia Martin is in Paris and at the end of her rope. Once beautiful, she was taken care of by men. Now, after being dropped by her latest lover, Mr. Mackenzie, Julia is running out of luck and chances. A visit to London to see her ailing mother might offer an opportunity to start over--but it also brings her face to face with her distrustful sister, Norah, who can't help but feel that Julia has only changed for the worse in the years since they last saw one another. And it proves difficult to escape the desultory romantic entanglements of Paris when a suitor follows her to England.
Nowhere is Jean Rhys's talent for fully inhabiting the minds of her characters more apparent than in After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie, her masterful second novel. Rhys lays bare the desires and contradictions of the mercurial Julia, and all those trapped in her orbit, in this haunting depiction of life after the end of a tumultuous affair.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Jean Rhys is one of my absolute favourite writers, her writing is melancholic and her books often leave me heartbroken. Yet After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie didn't make me feel anything but fed up; all the characters are irritating, frustrating, or lifeless. The protagonist - Julia - was infuriating, I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her. After their marriage has failed, Mr. Mackenzie cuts off Julia's allowance and because Julia is so used to men paying for everything, she loses the plot a little bit. She bounces from Paris to London and back again expecting other people to pay her way. After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie doesn't have any of the depressing charm of Jean Rhys' other books.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.