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A review by kevin_shepherd
Sylvia Plath: A Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin
4.0
Linda Wagner-Martin writes in her preface that she had a very different book in mind when she started researching and compiling data for what would become Sylvia Plath: A Biography. She had envisioned the inclusion of extensive quotes and excerpts from Plath’s unpublished manuscripts and somewhat published journals. Initially, it all began pretty much as planned—but then she hit a snag.
You see, Plath’s literary legacy is marshaled, legally, by her estranged husband Ted Hughes [dic] and Ted’s sister, Olwyn Hughes [also dic]. Wagner-Martin explains that, at first, all was well between her and the executors of Plath's personal and literary estate. But as her book started to take form and copies were provided (as requested), the Hughes duo [dics] threatened to withdraw all permissions unless changes where made to the then unfinished and unpublished manuscript. Wagner-Martin had a dilemma: kowtow to Ted and Olwyn [ibid], presumably to make Ted look less villainous, or maintain her integrity as a writer and publish an honest and truthful biography sans all the excerpts and quotations.
Which path did the author choose you ask? I’ll just say that Sylvia Plath: A Biography, at just barely 300 pages, is a LOT shorter than it was originally intended to be. A very well written, honest, and truthful accounting of a remarkable and all-too-short life.
You see, Plath’s literary legacy is marshaled, legally, by her estranged husband Ted Hughes [dic] and Ted’s sister, Olwyn Hughes [also dic]. Wagner-Martin explains that, at first, all was well between her and the executors of Plath's personal and literary estate. But as her book started to take form and copies were provided (as requested), the Hughes duo [dics] threatened to withdraw all permissions unless changes where made to the then unfinished and unpublished manuscript. Wagner-Martin had a dilemma: kowtow to Ted and Olwyn [ibid], presumably to make Ted look less villainous, or maintain her integrity as a writer and publish an honest and truthful biography sans all the excerpts and quotations.
Which path did the author choose you ask? I’ll just say that Sylvia Plath: A Biography, at just barely 300 pages, is a LOT shorter than it was originally intended to be. A very well written, honest, and truthful accounting of a remarkable and all-too-short life.