Good Morning, Midnight

Published in 1939, Good Morning, Midnight is a semiautobiographical work written by Jean Rhys. A writer of Creole and Welsh descent, Rhys lived in the British West Indies before traveling to England to study. She married and traveled throughout Europe with her first husband, a journalist of French origin. This marriage ended in divorce. Sasha Jensen, the narrator of Good Morning, Midnight, also leaves London to follow her husband Enno. They eventually settle in Paris, where their marriage quickly dissolves after the tragic loss of their first son. Sasha moves to England for five years before returning to Paris in 1937. As she struggles with the constant flood of memories that overwhelm her in Paris, Sasha grows increasingly isolated from the world around her.

Told in first-person narration, Rhys’s novel explores the interwar between the two World Wars. A modernist work, Good Morning, Midnight follows Sasha’s mind as she meanders through her traumatic past and harsh present. Written and set in a time of disillusionment, Rhys’s novel depicts characters alienated from their home countries who search for new beginnings in the rich setting of 1937 Paris. Divided into four parts, Good Morning, Midnight includes several paragraph breaks to demonstrate a change in time and setting.

Plot Summary

The novel begins five days after Sasha Jensen’s return to Paris in 1937. Encouraged by her old friend Sidonie to visit Paris to revive her lost spirits, Sasha drafts a strict plan to avoid losing herself in her memories of Paris. She struggles to control the surge of emotions that overwhelm her and experiences bouts of public crying. She reminisces on her failed jobs and avoids human contact as she grows increasingly concerned over the sneers of the ghost-like man staying in the room next to hers.

As she finds herself returning to the cafés and bars she once frequented with her French husband Enno, Sasha dives deeper into her memories of the past, including her family’s disapproval of her return to England five years prior, after the dissolution of her marriage. One night on her way home from the bar, she meets two Russian men with whom she engages in a night of banter and general frivolity. She promises to meet one of the men for tea the next afternoon. The next day, after being confronted by two women she recognizes from her past, Sasha does not meet the man for tea but instead sits in Luxembourg Gardens until nightfall. As she struggles to fall asleep that night, she thinks about the loss of her five-week-old son.

The next day she goes to the hair salon, dyes her hair blonde, and returns to Luxembourg Gardens. Here she encounters the friend of the Russian man she did not meet yesterday. They talk, and she learns his name is Nicolas Delmar and that he is Ukrainian. Nicolas shares his philosophy of life and offers suggestions for how Sasha can overcome her loneliness; he offers to introduce Sasha to his friend Serge, who is a painter. They make arrangements to meet the next day. Sasha ventures to buy a new hat. Later that evening Sasha meets René, who upon seeing Sasha in a fur coat and her new hat asks her to help him obtain new papers. Despite her reservations and suspicions that he is a gigolo, Sasha takes René to a local café. She later resists his request to come up to her hotel room. The persistent René calls the hotel in search of Sasha, but she misses his call.

Part 2 centers around Sasha’s visit to Serge Rubin’s studio with Nicolas Delmar. Sasha, Nicolas, and Serge enjoy a day in Serge’s studio, where they dance and engage in deep conversation about weeping. Serge shares a story about a woman from Martinique who once ventured into his old London apartment; the woman isolated herself in her neighboring apartment by day in fear of the judgment of her unconventional relationship with her French lover. Sasha feels a connection to this story. Sasha chooses a picture of an old Jewish man playing the banjo that she wants to purchase, though she has no money on her. Serge insists on gifting the picture to Sasha, but Sasha, although touched by Serge’s gesture, arranges to pay for it. Nicolas collects the money on Serge’s behalf later that evening and, over drinks, tells Sasha that he believes Serge to be mad. Sasha returns to her hotel room and finds a letter from Serge thanking her for her purchase. She ruminates on the picture, feeling connected to the anguish in the man’s face.

Part 3 follows Sasha on a journey into her past adventures traveling through Europe with her husband Enno. Organized by each room they rented along their journey, Part 3 takes Sasha through her memories of her time in The Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Calais, and finally Paris. Sasha and Enno marry in The Hague and then travel to Amsterdam, where they celebrate their marriage. Quickly running out of money, Sasha and Enno decide to travel to Paris, where Enno promises a new, more stable life. Sasha and Enno make it to Brussels, where Enno begins the search for more money to fund their trip back to Paris. Sasha, hoping to contribute, meets with an old male acquaintance named Mr. Lawson, who told Sasha to look him up if she was ever in Brussels. Sasha asks Mr. Lawson for his financial support, which he grants. Before Sasha can leave, Mr. Lawson kisses Sasha, and she feels violated. She lies to Enno about where she found the money, and they travel to Calais, where Enno has a friend who will help them get to Paris.

On the way to Calais, Sasha fears she may be pregnant. They receive help from Enno’s friend and arrive in Paris, where Enno subsequently abandons Sasha in a park for three hours. He returns with the good news that he has secured housing for them. Sasha grows increasingly pregnant and, after a month in Paris, Enno complains of his lack of sexual satisfaction and abandons Sasha for three days. He returns with no explanation, and they continue to build their lives in Paris as Sasha finds work as an English tutor and Enno writes and sings. Soon, Sasha gives birth alone as Enno travels for work. She finds it difficult to breastfeed, and the baby, who never cries, dies five weeks later. Devastated, Sasha and Enno separate, although Enno promises to send money and write. Sasha never hears from him again and fends for herself by eating at a local convent and writing home to England to ask for money.

Part 4 returns to the present, and Sasha finds a note from René, who details his possible travel to England in the next few days. Sasha, paranoid about the man next door who she believes is watching her, opens her door to confront him and discovers René at her door. Although she is self-conscious about what the other boarders will think of a man in her room, she invites René in, and he invites her to dinner that evening to celebrate his new good fortune. Sasha agrees to meet René for dinner and arranges her money to ensure she will have enough for dinner and her journey home to England.

Sasha meets René for dinner. Throughout the evening, René hassles Sasha to provide him with recommendations for London and boasts of his envisioned success with the wealthy American to whom he hopes to become attached. Sasha and René argue and venture to the Trocadéro, where Sasha wishes to see the Exhibition. They enter another bar, where René announces he made arrangements at another hotel for them to spend the night together. Sasha, embarrassed that he made these arrangements through their waiter, resists his advances. René escorts Sasha back to her hotel, and they say goodnight.

As Sasha heads to her room, the lights go out on the landing, and she rummages for her keys. She suddenly sees the flame of a cigarette and instantly knows who it is. She embraces René, and they enter her room for a drink. René remarks on how he knew, despite her rejection, that Sasha wanted him to spend the night with her. Sasha resents René’s implied meaning and asks him to leave. He refuses and moves aggressively toward Sasha. Sasha and René struggle on the bed as he attempts to rape her. Sasha distracts René by divulging where she hid her money. Sasha implores him to leave her some money. René instantly grabs some of the money and vanishes.

Distraught, Sasha questions her decision and drinks heavily. As the night progresses, she imagines René returning to her. She unlocks her door and undresses. As she waits on the bed, a figure enters her room. Without looking, Sasha identifies this figure as the mysterious man next door. She confirms it is him by his familiar white nightshirt. Sasha reaches out to embrace the mysterious figure and cries out “yes, yes, yes.”