Jean Rhys was born in Dominica in 1894. She began writing in Paris and her first collection of stories. The Left Banck, was published in 1927. Her next four books were unsuccessful and nothing was heard of her for twenty years. In 1966 she made a sensational reappearance with Wide Sargasso Sea, which, along with many of her books, is published in Penguin. The stories collected here are taken from Tigers are Better Looking and Sleep It Off Lady.