madam_cyn 's review for:

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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Comprehensive and riveting account of Plath's work and short but dramatic life. The last three chapters were almost unbearable to read as Plath veered slowly, then quickly to her doom. The day she killed herself, she was due to be admitted to a psychiatric facility. She preferred death to the clutches of doctors she did not trust. A myth has been built up that Plath was being a drama queen and hoped to be rescued from her suicide attempt. The way  she meticulously prepared it left no other outcome possible. I think the myth assuaged Hughes' guilt and elided his role in the tragedy. Disappointing that this biography was a finalist, but did not win the Pulitzer Prize.