Jamaica, early 19th century: In an old manor house, Antoinette Cosway grows up in a liminal world. On one side are the black servants, their songs and rituals; on the other side are the white plantation owners. It is a time of upheaval, as slavery has just been abolished and the black population is rising up against their former masters for the first time. Antoinette marries a young Englishman, Mr. Rochester from Charlotte Brontë's classic "Jane Eyre," but their relationship is overshadowed by rumors of madness in her family, his high expectations, and her inner turmoil. Ultimately, her husband forces her to leave the island and go with him to England. There, Antoinette lives as a prisoner in his grand manor and gradually loses her sanity. She becomes the madwoman in the attic. Jean Rhys' "Wide Sargasso Sea.".