âÂÂI Used to Live Here Onceâ is a work of short fiction by Jean Rhys first collected in Sleep It Off Lady (1976) by André Deutsch and Harper & Row (New York).
A ghost story, âÂÂI Used to Live Here Onceâ is one the last works of fiction that Rhys wrote, and at roughly 400 words, perhaps her shortest.
âÂÂI Used to Live Here Onceâ is a third-person limited-omniscient narrative. The narrator has walked to the bank of a river in memory, recalling the configuration of its stepping stones as she crosses. On the other side, roads and vegetation are familiar; she experiences a sense of joy as she traverses the landscape. Approaching a house, her heart begins to palpitate.
A boy and girl are standing under a mango tree. The narrator calls out to them, but neither responds, their faces turned away. As she nears the children she repeats her greeting and remarks, âÂÂI used to live here once.âÂÂ
The boy turns and looks directly at the narrator, observing only to the girl that the air temperature has suddenly dropped. They run to the house to seek shelter. She stands, watching them flee: âÂÂThat was the first time she knew.âÂÂ
Biographer Miranda Seymour describes the tale as Rhys's effort âÂÂto confront and tame the enduring ghosts of her own pastâ¦âÂÂ
âÂÂI Used to Live Here Onceâ was admired by author William Trevor, as well as critic Robie Macauley at the New York Times Book Review, who thought the story was âÂÂamong the finest, and certainly most concise, ghost story they had ever read.âÂÂ