Synopses & Reviews
The highly anticipated
new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary
and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the
long-held myths about her life and art.
With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials — including
unpublished letters and manuscripts; court, police, and psychiatric
records; and new interviews — Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant
daughter of Wellesley, Massachusetts who had poetic ambition from a very
young age and was an accomplished, published writer of poems and
stories even before she became a star English student at Smith College
in the early 1950s.
Determined not to read Plath's work as if her every act, from
childhood on, was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark evokes a culture
in transition, in the shadow of the atom bomb and the Holocaust, as she
explores Plath's world: her early relationships and determination not
to become a conventional woman and wife; her conflicted ties to her
well-meaning, widowed mother; her troubles at the hands of an
unenlightened mental-health industry; her Cambridge years and
thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes, a marriage of true minds that would
change the course of poetry in English; and much more.
Clark's clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill,
and other demonized players in the arena of Plath's suicide promotes a
deeper understanding of her final days, with their outpouring of
first-rate poems. Along with illuminating readings of the poems
themselves, Clark's meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer
than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail
that still lights the way for women poets the world over.
Review
"[Clark's] attention to specifics serves her
very well...as she tracks how Plath's depression,
anxiety over her literary standing, despair over her failed marriage,
and fear of institutionalization speeded her death..." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Clark lifts the poet's life
from the Persephone myth it has become and examines it in all its
complexity....[Her] detailed, multidimensional treatment gives
Plath's life and work its dignity, character and sense of interiority.
We get the full scope of Plath's incredible talent here, rightfully
established as complicated, radiant and worthy of deep consideration.
Plath was a genius [and]
Red Comet allows [her] to emerge from the shadows, shining in all her intricacy and artistry." Anna Spydell, BookPage (Starred Review)
Review
"A page-turning,
meticulously researched biography of Sylvia Plath. Informed by
never-before-accessed documents, Clark builds a narrative that gathers
full force....a
superb work that will deliver fresh revelations to Plath's many devoted
fans."
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Synopsis
"Finally, the biography that Sylvia Plath deserves . . . A spectacular achievement." --Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life *Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography*
The highly anticipated new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.
With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials--including unpublished letters and manuscripts; court, police, and psychiatric records; and new interviews--Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant daughter of Wellesley, Massachusetts who had poetic ambition from a very young age and was an accomplished, published writer of poems and stories even before she became a star English student at Smith College in the early 1950s.
Determined not to read Plath's work as if her every act, from childhood on, was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark evokes a culture in transition, in the shadow of the atom bomb and the Holocaust, as she explores Plath's world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her conflicted ties to her well-meaning, widowed mother; her troubles at the hands of an unenlightened mental-health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes, a marriage of true minds that would change the course of poetry in English; and much more.
Clark's clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath's suicide promotes a deeper understanding of her final days, with their outpouring of first-rate poems. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark's meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over.
Synopsis
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography - "One of the most beautiful biographies I've ever read. --Glennon Doyle, author of #1
New York Times Bestseller, Untamed The highly anticipated new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.
With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials--including unpublished letters and manuscripts; court, police, and psychiatric records; and new interviews--Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant daughter of Wellesley, Massachusetts who had poetic ambition from a very young age and was an accomplished, published writer of poems and stories even before she became a star English student at Smith College in the early 1950s.
Determined not to read Plath's work as if her every act, from childhood on, was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark evokes a culture in transition, in the shadow of the atom bomb and the Holocaust, as she explores Plath's world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her conflicted ties to her well-meaning, widowed mother; her troubles at the hands of an unenlightened mental-health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes, a marriage of true minds that would change the course of poetry in English; and much more.
Clark's clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath's suicide promotes a deeper understanding of her final days, with their outpouring of first-rate poems. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark's meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world ove
Synopsis
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - The highly anticipated biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.
"One of the most beautiful biographies I've ever read. --Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller, Untamed
With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials, Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant Sylvia Plath, who had precocious poetic ambition and was an accomplished published writer even before she became a star at Smith College. Refusing to read Plath's work as if her every act was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark considers the sociopolitical context as she thoroughly explores Plath's world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her troubles with an unenlightened mental health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes; and much more.
Clark's clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath's suicide promote a deeper understanding of her final days. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark's meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over.
About the Author
Heather Clark earned her
bachelor's degree in English Literature from Harvard University and her
doctorate in English from Oxford University. Her awards include a
National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Fellowship; a Leon
Levy Biography Fellowship at the City University of New York; and a
Visiting U.S. Fellowship at the Eccles Centre for American Studies,
British Library. A former Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for
Life-Writing, she is the author of
The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes and
The Ulster Renaissance: Poetry in Belfast 1962-1972. Her work has appeared in publications including
Harvard Review and
The Times Literary Supplement, and she recently served as the scholarly consultant for the BBC documentary
Sylvia Plath: Life Inside the Bell Jar. She divides her time
between Chappaqua, New York, and Yorkshire, England, where she is
Professor of Contemporary Poetry at the University of Huddersfield.
www.heatherclarkauthor.com