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A review by dylankakoulli
Your Story, My Story by Connie Palmen
4.0
Your Story, My Story is a truly mesmerising piece of literary fiction that paints an indelible picture of one of arts most infamous -and deeply tumultuous couplings, poet and poetess; Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath
I won’t lie, I was as much apprehensive as I was increasingly drawn to such an intriguing and potentially controversial tale. One that, though fictional in nature, is fuelled by a meticulous amount of research based on both Plath and Hughes’ poetry, letters and journals.
Palmen has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to view a piece of history -time, people and place, in a way that neither absolves or justifies Hughes of his past adulterous actions, or belittles Plaths longstanding mental health plight, but instead manages to balance the scales, finally showing us both sides of the (yes you guessed it) story.
A story perhaps not so much doomed from the start, but caught up in extremes. The soaring highs, and deeply profound lows -especially those relating to mental health. Which was handled with both sensitivity and, as someone who has/continues to suffer with their own mental health, honesty.
Showing the unjust and brutal nature that comes with mental illness. How it not only effects those mentally sufferering, but can also effect and greatly impact (though not to quite the same extent) on those around them too.
All in, this was one heck of a beautifully written (shoutout to both writer and translator), that I would highly recommend to those interested in exploring complex relationships and the lasting effects of mental illness on a person and their relationships.
4 stars
I won’t lie, I was as much apprehensive as I was increasingly drawn to such an intriguing and potentially controversial tale. One that, though fictional in nature, is fuelled by a meticulous amount of research based on both Plath and Hughes’ poetry, letters and journals.
Palmen has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to view a piece of history -time, people and place, in a way that neither absolves or justifies Hughes of his past adulterous actions, or belittles Plaths longstanding mental health plight, but instead manages to balance the scales, finally showing us both sides of the (yes you guessed it) story.
A story perhaps not so much doomed from the start, but caught up in extremes. The soaring highs, and deeply profound lows -especially those relating to mental health. Which was handled with both sensitivity and, as someone who has/continues to suffer with their own mental health, honesty.
Showing the unjust and brutal nature that comes with mental illness. How it not only effects those mentally sufferering, but can also effect and greatly impact (though not to quite the same extent) on those around them too.
All in, this was one heck of a beautifully written (shoutout to both writer and translator), that I would highly recommend to those interested in exploring complex relationships and the lasting effects of mental illness on a person and their relationships.
4 stars