Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation

A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 One of BookPage's Best Biographies of 2024 One of Literary Hub's 50 Noteworthy Nonfiction Books of 2024 A Times Literary Supplement Book of the YearA 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 fascinationthe 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 Duynea superfan and scholarradically reimagines the last years of Plaths 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 Plaths mythology; the life and tragic suicide of Assia Wevill, Hughess 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.