Jean Rhys

First published in 1931, "After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie" covers themes including the lot of the outsider, the plight of the underdog, rich versus poor, female alienation, loneliness, destitution, death, grief, nostalgia for childhood and the quest for love. Now leaving her last lover Mr. Mackenzie, or being left by him, a once-beautiful woman named Julia is running out of luck and chances. A visit to London to see her ailing mother and distrustful sister brings her stark life into full focus.
A masterful and terrifying tale from one of the truest voices in 20th-century fiction.