How do we tell the story of Sylvia Plath?

 

How do we tell the story of Sylvia Plath?

Variously depicted as a victim or a villain, perhaps no other writer has an afterlife more contested than Plath. 

The 10 Best Books of 2021

Shifting the Focus From Sylvia Plath’s Tragic Death to Her Brilliant Life

Heather Clark’s ‘Red Comet’ is an exhaustively researched, often brilliant biography of Sylvia Plath

By Anna Leszkiewicz
14 October 2020

Sylvia Plath is standing in her vegetable garden. It’s a warm summer evening in Devon. In her arms she holds a great bundle of loose papers. At her feet, a bonfire blazes. While her mother and her daughter watch from the kitchen, she tears up page after page of writing. Leaning over the bonfire, she sets the papers alight and watches them burn.

Frances Leviston’s The Voice in My Ear / A sharp, insightful story collection

 

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Frances Leviston’s The Voice in My Ear: a sharp, insightful story collection

The ten stories all centre around a different protagonist named Claire, each clouded by a difficult mother – whether they dominate the foreground or linger slightly out of frame.

BY ANNA LESZKIEWICZ

25 March 2020

“Isn’t it a bit hackneyed to be talking about mothers?” Claire says, bewildered. A silhouetted woman wearing a white coat and carrying a clipboard has just asked her a series of leading (if not misguided) questions: “Your mother was a difficult woman, yes? She was very hard on you, yes?”