Quartet (Penguin Books)

Set in a superficially romantic, between-wars Paris, "Quartet" is a poignant tale of a lonely woman. Set against a background of winter-wet streets, Pernod in smoky cafes and cheap hotel rooms with mauve- flowered wallpaper, Marya tries to make something substantial of her life in order to withstand the unreality of her surroundings. Alone, her Polish husband in prison, she is taken up aby an English couple who slowly overwhelm her with their passions. Jean Rhys' first novel is both poignant and disturbingly intimate in its vivid depiction of a woman on her own.