Perhaps one of the most underrated writers of her time, Jean Rhys, her character, her life and her work, unfold in this compassionate account of her career.
Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams, as she was named, grew up in Dominica.
When she was 17 her family shipped her to Britain where she lived a life of ups and downs. The majority of her writing took place during the pre WWII years. It was lauded by a few, but it shocked many by its honesty. It wasn't until 1966 when she was 76 that her book, Wide Sargasso Sea was a success and she became recognized as a gifted writer. The story ingeniously uses as its main character Antoinette Berthe Cosway, Edward Rochester's mad wife in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
In They Destroyed all the Roses we visit a gallery of characters who knew Jean Rhys; her publisher, some of her admirers, her daughter and her neighbors. We discover her peculiarities and the themes that dominated her life and her writing; deception, failed relationships, abortion, and alcohol. 60 minutes.