Loving Sylvia Plath

A Reclamation

23 August 2024

Territory Rights — Worldwide.

Description

A nuanced, passionate exploration of the life and work of one of the most misunderstood writers of the twentieth century

Sylvia Plath is an object of enduring cultural fascination—the troubled patron saint of confessional poetry, a writer whose genius is buried under the weight of her status as the quintessential literary sad girl. Emily Van Duyne—a superfan and scholar—radically reimagines the last years of Plath’s life, confronts her suicide and the construction of her legacy. Drawing from decades of study on Plath and her husband, Ted Hughes, the chief architect of Plath’s mythology; the life and tragic suicide of Assia Wevill, Hughes’s mistress; newly available archival materials; and a deep understanding of intimate partner violence, Van Duyne seeks to undo the silencing of Sylvia Plath and resuscitate her as the hardworking, brilliant writer she was.

Reviews

"Emily Van Duyne reveals Plath as she was: the best of her, the worst of her, the parts she hid in plain sight, the parts she made harder to find. I inhaled Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation like (what else?) air." — Jessica DeFino, Guardian columnist and beauty reporter

"[Van Duyne] carefully, almost tenderly, combines research with experience. " — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times

"In Loving Sylvia Plath, Emily Van Duyne sets out to radically reimagine the last years of Plath's life and recontextualize her legacy by undoing her silencing and exploring the brilliance of her work. This book is perfect for lovers of poetry and literary history alike. " — Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books

"Impassioned... Effective in [its] takedown oof the literary establishment that closed ranks around Hughes to protect him against feminist pushback from the 1970s on... Compelling and well argued. " — Wendy Smith, Boston Globe

Hardback

9781324006978

163 x 239 mm • 320 pages

£22.00

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Ebook

9781324006985

£22.00

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