5.0

[2020] Before this book what I knew about Sylvia Plath was essentially this: poet, The Bell Jar, Ted Hughes, suicide. So basically everything in this book was new to me. Comprehensive, thoroughly researched, utterly engaging. All thousand pages of it! Does Plath’s life and work justice. Sticks to what is documented, keeps away from speculation for the most part. Gives what seems to be a fair representation of her relationship with Ted Hughes. Most surprising takeaways for me were how strong she was, ambitious and progressive. How committed she was and how hard she worked at her craft. And how big a role she played in Ted Hughes’ success.